


BYOB

by modusoperandi



Category: GOT7
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-29
Updated: 2018-07-27
Packaged: 2018-09-20 20:38:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 30,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9513320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/modusoperandi/pseuds/modusoperandi
Summary: Jaebum thought it was the best idea ever to get his ex-girlfriend jealous by fake dating the most popular guy on campus. Granted, he was also very intoxicated when that conclusion was reached.





	1. Your Gravity

If someone asks Jaebum what in the _hell_ he's thinking attending some big shot party at some big shot campus he’s practically _just_ moved into, he’ll probably laugh himself to death— 100% satisfied with the life he’s lived and with absolutely no regrets given.

In fact, he makes a mental note to thank his past self for whatever good deed he’s done for the world to reward him with the _hottest guy on earth_ on his _lap_ , and as of the moment, attached to his _lips_. Honestly he’s having some kind of out of body experience here. 

Jackson makes a little noise, leaning back to presumably breathe, but Jaebum apparently has tanks for lungs and doesn't feel the need so he tilts his head forward, chasing after another kiss.

“Hold on.” The other boy places a finger between them, blushed lips tilted into a soft smirk. His eyes glance up for a short second before returning to Jaebum— hands slowly re-positioning themselves atop Jaebum’s broad shoulders, caressing slightly as Jackson adjusts himself over the lap he’s sat on.

Jaebum breathes out, hands tightening over slim hips.

And Jackson has the audacity to laugh. He also has the audacity to raise his eyebrows as if daring Jaebum to do something about it. 

So he takes the other male’s lips into a hard kiss, swallowing the gasp Jackson emits as Jaebum’s hands pull closer, closer—until Jackson’s knees hit and dip between the back of the couch and the cushion they occupy. Jaebum pushes roughly into the kiss, using one hand to steady the back of Jackson’s head while his free one lowers towards a strong thigh, fingertips grazing the other’s ass.

Jackson wraps one arm firmly around his shoulders, the other sliding down to rest on his chest… his stomach… his belt…

And then he reaches behind himself to pull Jaebum’s wandering hand back up on his waist.

Jackson pulls away again, this time with a breathy chuckle. “That’s hot but I’m not really into giving everyone here more of a show than they’ve already seen,” he slurs out, slumping forward onto Jaebum.

Dazed and still more than a little intoxicated, Jaebum runs a hand through soft, blond locks and presses little kisses on Jackson’s neck. The latter squirms, ticklish and giggly.

“Wanna get out of here?” He delivers the line terribly. All slur-sloppy instead of awesome-cool.

It does get an adorable laugh from Jackson though so he’s not entirely displeased. “Are you trying to take advantage of a drunk person, Mr. Im?”

Jaebum snorts. “Hey, _I_ could be the one who’s drunk here.” He glances down at Jackson, brows furrowed playfully as they met each other’s gaze. “Are _you_ trying to take advantage of a drunk person, Mr. Wang?”

“But _I’m_ not the one who said the sleazy line!” Jackson protests, going cross-eyed as he brings their faces closer and still maintains eye contact.

“Okay, we’re both drunk,” Jaebum grumbles, leaving a peck on Jackson’s nose before they were rudely pulled apart by one bitter and single Park Jinyoung.

“Why hello there, pair of lovers!” Jinyoung lifts Jackson off of Jaebum and onto the opposite end of the couch, plopping down in the space between them. “Was I interrupting something?” His voice is obnoxiously loud but Jaebum doesn't mind this time as it actually helps his cause.

Speaking of, Jaebum discreetly—or as discreetly as a sloshed human being can get, meaning he knocks onto the end table beside him and spills beer all over the carpet behind the couch—turns around towards where Minah had been sitting and chatting with her friends.

And all the satisfaction in the world can hold no candle over the utter _victory_ Jaebum feels as he glimpses the obvious irritation colouring the girl’s features, her eyes set ablaze directly on the couch where Jaebum's currently pretending to flop around and help clean the beer-stained carpet.

This is it. No one can convince him otherwise—attending some big shot party at some big shot campus and making out with the hottest guy around?

Best decision _ever_.

 

** << 2 days ago >> **

 

“Man, you gotta stop moping.” Jinyoung shoves a handful of popcorn in his mouth, eyes not moving from the TV screen. “Preferably sometime in this century.”

“I’m _not_.” He is. But Jaebum isn’t about to admit that to his best friend-slash-arch nemesis.

“Jaebum, we are watching _Mean Girls_ for the _fourth_ time this week,” his friend says, deadpan, finally peeling his attention off the annoyingly addicting film to match his tone with a look. Jinyoung gives a dramatic pause as if Jaebum's supposed to react to that. “You’ve only been here for _five_ days.”

Jaebum scowls, biting into his popsicle with much more anger than it deserves. He assumes the only reason that huge bite doesn’t give him brain freeze is because his head, constantly hot and full of rage, has the capacity to melt down the frozen treat before it even reaches his higher functions.

“So?” he replies indignantly.

“So?! I can recite almost the _entire_ film by heart now, Jae.” Jinyoung turns, gripping onto Jaebum’s shoulder. “I can’t… can’t stop _quoting_ it. Everytime. Everywhere. In _every_ situation.” He shakes Jaebum a little, looking like the maniac Jaebum knew he truly is. “Do you understand what you’ve done?!”

The older male shrugs, dumping the whole bowl of popcorn over his friend’s head. It's worth the loss of food to hear Jinyoung’s shriek of horror.

“There was so much butter in those! What the hell?!”

“Calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down!”

Jinyoung grabs a handful of buttery popcorn and rubs them all over Jaebum’s hair. The latter only has a second to process the shock before Jinyoung goes for the double whammy and _whips_ a pillow smack dab onto Jaebum’s face.

So naturally, Jaebum retaliates with two pillows and a passionate war cry.

It’s close to half an hour later when the two boys finally settle down, the bed a mess of ruffled sheets and crushed popcorn. On the screen, Regina's screaming her lungs off before ominously adding her name onto the burn book.

“Wow,” Jinyoung mutters, unable to not react despite of how many times he’s watched the movie.

“Shut up, like you wouldn’t do the same.”

“Still. What a bitch.”

“The very definition of one,” Jaebum murmurs back, absently rubbing at his bare wrist and suddenly, Jinyoung knew this wasn’t about Regina George anymore.

“I never liked your ex, you know.”

Jaebum scoffs out a laugh, probably remembering one of the many times Jinyoung had passive aggressively shaded the relationship. “Yes, you made it very clear.”

“I was right after all.” Jinyoung let a hint of smugness tint his tone.

“Yeah.”

“You should’ve listened. I’m always right.”

“No you’re not, but yes, I know.” Jaebum sits up, grimacing at the slippery feel of his buttery… everything. “I should’ve done a lot of stuff but hey, I thought I loved her. So...” He chuckles without humour.

“Jaebum.” Jinyoung sighs, sitting up as well. “You better put this on record because god knows I’m never saying these words again.” He sighs again, this time heavily, as if saying nice things to Jaebum was _really_ that hard. Dickhead. “I want you to get over this—get over her—not because I’m tired of accompanying you and your pitiful mopey self, but because you deserve so much better than that.”

Jaebum is actually shocked at hearing what he’s hearing so his mouth only gapes open, head nodding in a silent prod for Jinyoung to go on.

The younger rolls his eyes. “We’re in our _dream school_ man! We’re supposed to have the time of our lives! You’re only twenty and, although not as handsome as I am, you’re not ugly!”

Jaebum frowns at that, resisting the itch to strangle Jinyoung until he’s blue in the face. They’ll see who’s handsome then.

“But anyway, I don’t want you spending what should be the most glorious days of your life hung up over some girl who wasn’t even worth your time in _high school_. Seriously,” Jinyoung continues, brushing popcorn bits off his arms as he stands. “Don’t do this to yourself. Meet new people, enjoy the great outdoors, hang out with me without watching _this_!” He waves a hand at the television. “And I’m gonna keep annoying the hell out of you until you get over this horrible slump.”

The speech is oddly touching—and by oddly Jaebum meant that he feels confused, not fully understanding the spoken words but he does feel somehow better. Like he can finally stop stewing over it alone because Jinyoung isn’t annoyed with _him_ , his friend is annoyed by the _situation_. Besides, if _Jinyoung_ thinks Jaebum isn’t ugly despite the self-imposed zombiefication of himself after the breakup, then Jaebum must be _gorgeous_ in his normal state. He cackles inwardly.

“Jinyoung, according to the senior yearbook and our mothers, I’m more handsome that you are.”

“Are you serious? Are you actually serious?! That’s all you got from my speech?!” Jinyoung throws his tenth dramatic fit of the day, stomping off to the bathroom to clean himself. Just before the door shuts, however, he sticks his head out and glares at Jaebum. “By the way, it’s your turn to do the laundry. Have fun.”

After a quick shower, Jaebum's forcefully sent down to the laundry room so he can wash Jinyoung’s popcorn soiled sheets—along with their whole week’s worth of dirty clothing. Jaebum doesn’t know what Jinyoung's harping about it being Jaebum’s turn to do the laundry when he’s only been in the dorm for a week.

But because Jaebum prides himself in being a Good Friend, he lugs the laundry basket down to the basement with only some minor grumbling. The laundry room isn’t empty as Jaebum has hoped but the sight of another boy sitting atop an unloaded washing machine isn’t entirely unwelcome either. He has eyes after all. And said eyes have just laid upon the finest human being Jaebum has seen since he stopped thinking everyone in the world had cooties.

The guy’s blond hair is ruffled, like he’d just gotten out of bed and thrown on his largest hoodie—Jaebum doesn’t think his assumption to be completely impossible seeing as the guy only had soft looking pajama bottoms under the hoodie.

The door slams close behind Jaebum, what with him being too distracted to control the strength of his push. The sound startles the stranger enough to make him jump, one hand immediately going towards his chest as he stares at Jaebum with wide eyes. How adorable.

Jaebum smirks, dragging his full basket behind. The stranger lets out a little laugh, uncrossing his legs and kicking out sock covered feet. How very adorable indeed. “Sorry, door was heavy.”

Cute guy waves him off, returning his gaze back on his DS.

And so begins Jaebum’s struggle to shove everything into one load, embracing that rough student life as he carefully counts out the coins required to get the machine running. He’d need some extras for the dryer later as well. Somehow along the way, he manages to tangle one of his arms with the dirty sheets that caused the impromptu laundry trip in the first place and Jaebum watches in horrified misery as the washer lid (slowly, in his eyes) tips forward, heavy metal on its way to slamming full force atop where Jaebum’s arm is still hopelessly stuck in the sheets.

No strange, final destination worthy death occurs, however, as the friendly neighbourhood cutie is suddenly beside him, pushing the fallen lid back up. The guy then wordlessly attempts to help Jaebum out of the tangle he’s caught himself in, raising an eyebrow once he’s unfurled enough of the sheets off.

“Fun night?” He asks, stepping back with poorly concealed amusement.

Jaebum has enough presence of mind to realize that the questionable stains on the sheets could be misinterpreted as something else. “More like playing with popcorn on the bed gone awry. And not even the fun kind. Thanks by the way.” He finally manages to free himself, shutting the lid with no other repercussions.

The other laughs, loud and high pitched and endearing as all hell. “No problem. I’m Jackson.” Jackson unloads the clothes inside one of the dryers and replaces them with new ones from the wash—Jaebum notices that, unlike him, Jackson’s laundry is properly segregated by dark and light colours.

“Jaebum.” He dumps a questionable amount of soap in the machine and feeds the coins into the slot, giving him ample time to glare down at the many tiny buttons before he decides to screw it and picks random settings. Que sera sera.

“I haven’t seen you around before, are you a freshman?” Jackson speaks again, now back on his previous perch.

“Do I look like a freshman?” Jaebum raises an eyebrow, smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

Jackson actually scans him from head to toe, eyes slowly moving as the slightest hint of a smirk plays at his full lips. “Not at all.” And then he grins, bright and almost childish. “But you _are_ new right?”

Jaebum nods, pulling up a chair and straddling it backwards so he could face Jackson. “Sort of. The first year of my program was held overseas.” He feels like he could spend the entire wait time just watching Jackson’s fringe tumble carelessly back over Jackson’s forehead every time he brushed it away.

The blond whistles in response, thumbing at his console for a second before looking up again. “Where’d you go?”

“France.”

“Were there a lot of hot people?”

Jaebum snorts, fully understanding where Jackson is coming from since, well, he’d wondered the same before he got there.

“Not as hot as the people here. Surprisingly.” He smiles, watching Jackson scrunch his nose as he looks down. Jaebum isn’t sure whether the other is frowning at his game or at Jaebum’s words.

“I don’t believe you. Stop keeping the hot people a secret!” Jackson retorts, sparing Jaebum an amused look.

“I’m serious.” Jaebum pauses, feeling the metaphorical light bulb go off in his head at this very opportune moment. “None of them are quite as hot as the… blonds over here.”

It’s now Jackson’s turn to snort, hand flying up to fiddle with his fringe. “Yeah?” He shoots Jaebum a very attractive, very playful smirk.

“Yeah. Definitely not.”

Jackson bursts into laughter, closely followed by Jaebum, who gets up from his chair to get closer to Jackson. For some reason, he feels completely at ease with the guy even though they’ve literally only met a couple of minutes ago. Maybe the bad flirting broke some major ice. He should do that more often.

Jinyoung’s phantom voice inside his head is singing the national anthem, except all the words have been replaced with ‘I told you so’.

“What do you have there?” Jaebum leans back against the washer beside Jackson’s, nodding his head towards the console.

Jackson’s lips are formed in an endearing close-lipped smile as he tilts the screen a little, so Jaebum could see it too. “Pokémon.”

“Do you have Sun or Moon?” Jaebum doesn’t miss a beat.

“Not yet.” Jackson is looking at him with an amused twinkle in his big eyes and Jaebum really wants to know what’s going on inside his head. “I don’t think my wallet is ready for that.”

“Same.”

“Then why’d you ask?”

“Just so I can pretend to know more than I do.”

That gets a laugh out of Jackson again, which in turn makes Jaebum grin.

They spend the rest of their wait time huddled over the DS, taking turns playing the game (Jackson getting worked up over the opposing Pokémon trainer’s one-liner insults) and exchanging obnoxious flirty comments when the opportunity presents itself. Jaebum would be willing to do the laundry every week if he always gets Jackson as company.

But eventually, all their laundry do get cleaned and there's no reason for them to stay in the quaint little basement room anymore.

“Which floor are you at?” Jaebum balances his basket with one hand. Now that the sheets and the clothes are neatly folded inside, he doesn’t have to struggle to keep everything from spilling to the ground.

“5th, you?” Jackson reaches the elevator first, setting one of his large laundry bags (seriously, it looks like the guy had washed his entire closet) on the floor so he can push at the elevator button. Jaebum snatches the bag into his own hand before Jackson can take it back, ignoring the following protests.

“I’m on the 7th.” Jaebum dodges Jackson’s grabby hands with a laugh. “Come on, let me help you. This is my only workout for today!” Lies. Jaebum had been at the gym early in the morning but he just really wants to maximize this part of his day.

The elevator dings open and Jackson finally assents with only a small pout. “You don’t need any more workout.”

If Jaebum’s ears has hands, they’d be clapping enthusiastically from the compliment. “Why thank you.” He’s very proud of his body but hearing further confirmation is always welcome.

“Okay, this is me,” Jackson breathes out as he drops his bag on the ground, fishing inside the pocket of his hoodie for the room keys. Jaebum places the bag in his hand beside the other and steps back, looking behind him to see if the elevator was still open. “What, not gonna come in?”

Jaebum twists back around only to catch Jackson’s raised eyebrow, bottom lip pulled between his teeth. He was obviously teasing and Jaebum responds in the only way that makes sense—he walks forward until their faces were inches apart, smirking down at Jackson’s amused expression before he whispers, “I don’t put out on the first date.”

Then he walks away to the sound of Jackson’s high-pitched laughter, completely satisfied with himself.

It’s only when he reaches his own door that he realizes he’s forgotten to ask for Jackson’s number, so he thumps his forehead on the hard surface over and over until Jinyoung opens the door, looks at him strangely, and none too gently shoves him inside for being a ‘filthy hoodlum’.

 

>><< 

 

“No.” Jaebum flips to the next page of his very interesting and cannot-be-put-down novel. He has no time for people who are out to ruin his life.

“What do you mean no? This is an opportunity of a lifetime! Big cool party? To meet cool new people?” Jinyoung pauses in his current mission of utterly ransacking the closet just to give Jaebum a look. “You have to help me out, dude. I’m trying to prevent you from being a hermit over here.”

Jaebum scowls, he can be whatever he wants to be. Besides, he’s met one new person already and that fills his entire ‘new person’ quota for the year. “I don’t want to.”

“Don’t be such a wet blanket,” Jinyoung sighs, throwing a pair of jeans on the ground before picking them back up and gazing at the clothing thoughtfully. “Mark throws the best parties. And Jackson’s actually attending this one. Those two are like _the fame_. You _have_ to come.”

Jaebum perks up, staring at Jinyoung with a wild look in his eyes. His best friend thankfully doesn’t notice the reaction, much too preoccupied with his many outfit choices. Jaebum wipes at his face until he’s at least half certain that he looks normal and tries to reply with the most nonchalant of tones, “fine.”

Jinyoung stops moving, a blue sweater hanging from his mouth.

“What? I said fine, I’m coming.” Jaebum gets up to stretch, willing his feet to move at the glacier pace he would have if he truly is only coming as a favour for Jinyoung. In his head, he's already running through every piece of clothing he owns that would be fashionable enough to maybe impress a certain someone.

Jinyoung continues to squint at him suspiciously. “Okaaay? Alright. Good. We’re leaving in an hour. Go fix your ugly face.”

Jaebum throws a ball of socks at him, locking the bathroom door shut before the other could retaliate.

When he gets out of the shower, Jaebum attempts to look casual as his eyes search madly for a good ensemble. He’s clutching two shirts in each hand when he couldn’t keep his mouth shut any longer.

“So this Jackson you’re talking about. He’s… the blond one right?”

He sees Jinyoung pause for the nth time this evening, eyes incredulous as he stares at Jaebum from the mirror reflection. “Yes… how do you know Jackson Wang?” His friend resumes fiddling with his hair. “I didn’t expect you to keep up with these things.”

Jaebum ignores him, deciding to go with navy long-sleeves and a pair of black jeans. Might as well be comfortable if he’s going to force himself to socialize.

Jinyoung’s prescribed hour is up just as Jaebum had finished securing the last of his five hundred earrings onto his person and he’s only allowed another second to gel his hair up and away from his face before the two of them were out the door.

Their walk to the place was short. This Mark dude’s bachelor pad is very close to the campus and is absolutely no joke. Jaebum understands the hype now—honestly, if all they do is lay around the carpet eating pizza, he’ll still consider the party _the best_ if only for the fact that the venue is _lit_.

“Nice, huh?” Jinyoung pushes at the open gates, letting themselves inside with a proud look on his face. Jaebum doesn’t know what he’s so smug about seeing as it’s not even _Jinyoung’s_ —wait.

“How the hell did you manage to get invited here?” Jaebum asks, incredulous.

“My charm and sparkling personality, of course.”

Jaebum doesn’t believe him one bit, but the music has already reached them halfway through the front porch steps and he thinks he could make out the sound of loud whoops followed by water splashing. There’s a pool. Amazing. Maybe he won’t hate this one particular party too much after all.

The door is opened before Jinyoung could even turn the knob, and their ears are immediately assaulted by a surprisingly good remix of some American pop song.

“Jinyoung!”

The guy who opened the door stumbles out, evidently drunk. Jaebum wonders how long the party’s been going on before his friend decided to show up. Jinyoung is _just_ the type to be fashionably late on purpose.

“Hey man!” Jinyoung returns the guy’s clumsy embrace and, in an act of utter bravery, Jaebum slides past them and into the pad alone. He can’t remember the last time he’s entered a stranger’s party without using Jinyoung as a human shield in front of him to ward off potential social situations.

And then he’s reminded of exactly why he doesn’t go to any strange places alone when he almost runs into a half-naked guy holding two bottles of whipped cream and screaming bloody murder. Jaebum promptly turns tail and returns to his spot slightly behind Jinyoung, deciding that waiting awkwardly until Jinyoung and his friend were done making nice is the lesser of two evils.

Eons later (it was two minutes but Jaebum has the right to exaggerate), the drunken stranger finally walks off someplace else and the newly arrived duo are free to roam the jungle by their lonesome. Jinyoung tells him to look out for a ‘gorgeous redhead that’s probably skulking around in a corner’ so that he could introduce Jaebum to Mark, but that detail goes over his head the moment he sees a white shock of hair that can only belong to one person.

Jackson's stood near the kitchen bar, head thrown back in laughter as he leans against the counter. Jaebum vaguely registers that there’s a redhead beside him, participating in conversation and not, in fact, skulking around in a corner. He doesn’t get to point this out, though, as Jinyoung is already dragging him in the direction of the small group.

“Hey.” Jinyoung slips into the circle smoothly, dragging a slightly dazed Jaebum along. There's a chorus of greetings in response but Jaebum’s eyes are locked onto wide brown eyes that switches from surprised to amused during the mere half second it takes for Jaebum to realign his thoughts.

“Hey Jinyoung.” Jackson's the last to respond, teeth biting into lips to prevent a grin from escaping. Jaebum’s eyes track the movement. “Who’s your friend there?”

Cheeky.

“Jaebum Im,” Jaebum answers smoothly, feeling more comfortable now that he’s got two people he actually knows around him. Jinyoung whips around to look at him with so much shock you’d think Jaebum was mute rather than selectively quiet. Seriously, screw that guy. “Nice to meet you.” It's probably nicer to address the whole group as he introduces himself but Jaebum can’t take his eyes off of Jackson.

Jackson grins, lips parting to no doubt smart mouth an answer back but before he has the chance, the redhead beside him speaks up.

“I’m Mark. That’s Jackson.” Mark straightens to his full height and Jaebum is pleased to note that the guy is still that little bit shorter than himself. He had to admit that Mark gave off some serious alpha male vibe, however, and Jaebum can’t say he’s fine with it.

Especially considering that the posturing _may_ have to do with a certain blond whose previously amused eyes now flicker between them in slight alarm.

There was a small awkward moment when Mark and Jaebum just stare each other off without a word, and the rest of the group stay quietly stewing in the tension probably whispering ‘what the fuck’ to themselves.

“I’m Bambam!” Someone evidently can’t take the tension and god bless Bambam’s little heart for it. Jaebum turns to him with what he hopes is a passable smile. Yugyeom chimes in next and then Youngjae but Jaebum only manages half coherent responses as he notices Jackson pinching Mark’s arm and he has to hold back a snort of laughter.

Jaebum reaches over and takes a can of beer—he’s risked coming here in hopes of hanging out with Jackson more and he should’ve known there was too much expectation in that thought. The universe simply doesn’t agree to plans made by people like him. Well. Screw it then. He grabs two full packs of beer from the mountain of alcohol stored in the kitchen and wanders over to a miraculously empty couch.

He’s not going to stay standing with a group of _obviously_ close friends when he’s _obviously_ not welcome.

Jinyoung turns, looking ready to follow but Jaebum shakes his head at him, knowing how much Jinyoung wants to talk to that douchebag Mark for some reason (okay he sees the appeal but still). His friend looks conflicted but Jaebum scrunches his face at him which in turn makes Jinyoung pull the ugliest face back at him before looking away with a smile.

And so Jaebum, once again, in the midst of probably the best party this campus has to offer, is left all by himself.

Or not.

“Sorry about Mark.” The couch dips while Jaebum was busy fiddling with his second drink, chugging through the first one in a worryingly quick fashion. “He’s gotten more protective in his old age.”

Jaebum is already smiling before he even faces Jackson.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. He’s not usually like that, I promise.”

Jaebum shrugs. “Oh well.” He reaches down to share his stolen stash of beer with Jackson and the latter follows the movement all the way until Jaebum unceremoniously plops it into his open palm. Jackson runs a finger over the unopened latch before finally popping it and taking a sip.

“So. I didn’t think I’d see you again so soon, Mr. Im.” His eyes are still beautifully large and sparkling with familiar mischief. Even in an environment he’d usually find uncomfortable, Jaebum can’t help but feel as giddy as when it was just the two of them in that laundry room.

“You thought too soon, Mr. Wang.” If Jackson is surprised that Jaebum knew his last name, he doesn’t show it.

“You sound like a stalker.” Jackson mock frowns, scooting as far away as he could on the couch. “You’re not stalking me are you?” He points an accusing finger towards Jaebum who simply flicks it away.

“I’d pick someone more interesting to stalk.”

Jackson mocks an affronted expression, stealing one more of Jaebum’s beer cans in retaliation. Jaebum plays with the mouth of his own drink as he grapples for anything to say—he hasn’t expected Jackson’s popularity to be this vast (though, really he should have known better judging from Jinyoung’s reaction at the mention of the boy’s name) but watching Jackson get approached by a flood of people mere seconds in between lulls, Jaebum is seriously questioning his life choices. He could be sitting on his bed right now, blissfully alone with beautiful Netflix as company. Yet here he is.

“So.” Jackson is suddenly back by his side, much closer than he had been earlier, seemingly having dismissed the last of his battalion of acquaintances. “What is your opinion on dogs?”

Jaebum raises an eyebrow.

“Your answer will determine whether we should continue this relationship or end it all right here right now, Mr. Im.”

“And what kind of relationship is hanging on a thread here, Mr. Wang?”

“That’s a loaded question. Now. What. Is. Your. Opinion. On dogs?” Jackson leans over and their noses are almost touching now. However, the both of them are too preoccupied with trying to hold back laughter to care about the position they’re in.

“I love them.”

Jackson gasps dramatically, placing the back of his hand over forehead. “Oh no, not those three words! I’m snatched.”

Jaebum lets go of his laughter as he takes a sip of his beer, knocking his teeth with the beer can and succeeding in making a fool of himself once again. His curses and spilt beer only earn a loud bout of laughter from Jackson, though, so he guesses it’s fine.

“I have a cat back home actually. Couldn’t take her to the dorm with me cause of the whole no pets rule.”

Jackson perks up, eyes shining with sympathy. “I have a dog back home too. I wish I could see him more often, but alas, plane ticket costs are rising and I am but a lowly peasant.”

“Plane ticket?”

“Yeah, Boof is all the way back in Hong Kong.”

“Boof? You named your dog Boof?”

“Yes! He is majestic okay!”

But Jaebum is too busy laughing, hands sliding around recklessly as he grabs for another beer.

“What did you name your cat then?”

“Hm, Nora.”

“Okay… okay. But. Listen. Why would you name your cat a human name?”

“It sounds like a princess name!”

“No it sounds like the name of your first crush who also happens to be your neighbour and painfully unavailable.”

Jaebum half gasps half hiccups because he wants Jackson to know he’s offended by how close to the truth the boy is. How dare.

“No it doesn’t!”

They don’t stop arguing about the pros and cons of human names used on pets until Jackson gets distracted with fumbling for pictures of Boof on his phone. Jaebum takes this time to look away from the boy for seemingly the first time in hours and he realizes that, impossibly, there were even _more_ people lounging around the flat.

And also their stash of beer is now empty and Jaebum doesn’t want to think about how much of the two dozen he’s consumed mostly because he’s feeling too light hearted at the moment but also because he's too light headed to do the math.

The sound of tinkling laughter registers in his brain and Jaebum hates himself for _still_ being so accustomed to that sound that he even recognizes it at this level of drunkenness. He takes a huge swig of the drink in his hand to hopefully erase those thoughts.

But it doesn’t help and Jaebum inevitably turns his head to look at the source of that sound.

Minah is only a couple of feet behind, surrounded by friends, and looking to be having the time of her life. Jaebum immediately feels so bitter he’s practically the human version of black coffee.

Jackson tugs on his arm, phone back in his pocket (Jaebum feels a twinge of regret because he genuinely wants to see Boof). The boy’s eyes look glassy from the alcohol but there's a little bit of concern in those warm brown eyes and Jaebum can’t help but smile.

“Somethin’ wrong?” Jackson leans on the head of the couch, blinking slowly.

“Nah, I just hate seeing my ex all happy.” Apparently he’s lost all filter too. Nice.

“Wow, petty.”

“Yup.”

“Which one’s your ex?”

Jaebum nods his head behind them. “Light blue skirt.”

“Hm. Wanna level up that pettiness?”

Jaebum raises an eyebrow.

“I’ve a plan. 100% fool proof!” Jackson exclaims, crushing his empty can of beer a little as he clenches his fists in excitement. “How badly did your ex break your heart?!”

“Badly!” Jaebum slams his empty beer can against the couch as if to prove the point.

“How badly do you want revenge?!”

“Badly! Wait… what…”                                                                      

“Don’t worry we won’t be killing anyone tonight.” Jackson shuffles impossibly closer and Jaebum doesn’t even give a single damn that the boy is almost on his lap.

Before he could question the ‘tonight’ part of Jackson’s proclamation, Jackson suddenly jumps fully into his lap and Jaebum is just as suddenly at a loss for words.

“From now on we will be fake boyfriends,” Jackson whispers, smiling blearily down at him.

Jaebum stares dumbly back, hands absently running up and down the material of Jackson’s sweater. It’s so soft.

“How would that work?”

“Silly, we just have to fake date and fake cuddle and fake kiss in front of people! Your ex will see that you’ve moved on and you’ll be able to turn the tables!”

Jaebum is impressed by how coherent Jackson still is. But the idea doesn’t sound too bad when you put it like that. Not bad at all. He’s on board with having a hot fake boyfriend after the absolute disaster his last relationship had been.

“Sounds fun.” Jaebum grins, arms comfortably looped around Jackson’s waist. “When do we start?”

Jackson leans down and their noses brush lightly. “Now.”

And, well, Jaebum isn’t saying no to that.

 

<< **present day** >>

 

When Jaebum opens his eyes, he immediately feels like he’s back at that death metal concert he’d once gone to during his teenage rebellion years, stuck in an aggressively dizzying mosh pit and desperately waiting for the ringing in his ears to stop.

He groans, rolling over to bury his head in the nearest surface. An answering groan follows his own and Jaebum slowly blinks, trying to recall how and why he’s ended up with another person beside him. In some stranger’s bed. Both evidently having been drunk the night before.

He slowly turns to the side, trying not to aggravate his head and meets the squinty frown of one Jackson Wang.

And because Jaebum has always had good memories even after getting absolutely inebriated, the events of last night’s party slowly fills back inside the mothballs that made up his brain and his eyes widen into saucers. Judging from Jackson’s scandalized expression, the boy also remembers the shitty plan they’d come up with.

Jackson snorts, snatching the pillow from below his head and covering his face with it to muffle the sound. Jaebum slowly follows, shoulders shaking as he tries to contain the laughter bubbling up his throat, but to no avail.

The pillow is no match against the sound of Jackson’s giggles and Jaebum half groans, half chuckles along because everything is just so god damn _funny_ so he clutches his head as he laughs because it _hurts like hell_ , but he’s drunk on something he didn’t have a name for and he couldn’t, for the life of him, stop.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello it's ur friendly neighbourhood anon passing by to drop this massive fluff of a fake relationship au  
> i had to delete this fic like 23948 times before finally posting it right wow what a mess
> 
> ps. this is set in a north american college so there'll be no hyung usage between the hyungline  
> anyway let me know what you think and hope to see you in the next chapter!!


	2. It Keeps Pulling Me In

**Jinyoung 10:02**

Ur so popular

**Jaebum 11:20**

What

**Jinyoung 11:21**

People know you now

They’re talking about last night’s party

‘Jackson and the guy from France’

Sexy

**Jaebum 11:23**

Tf I’m not even from there

Where did you hear

**Jinyoung 11:24**

Everywhere

Nothing is sacred in this place

Especially with Jackson involved

Anyway since when did you have game

**Jaebum 11:25**

smd

 

“Who the hell are you?” Jaebum groans, wiping a hand over his face as he waits for his coffee to cool.

Jackson looks at him in disbelief.

“I mean.” Jaebum does his best to form a quick follow-up. “I know who you are, Jackson, geez but why does everyone suddenly know about this?” He gestures between the two of them, too hungover to form anything more coherent.

“Oh.” Jackson laughs, unfairly radiant after a night of alcohol consumption. “Sorry, yeah, people tend to get all up in my business. Does it bother you?”

Jaebum slowly processes that, thinking over the fact that everything they do in this glamourous fake relationship would probably be broadcasted by every witness involved.

But does Jaebum care?

Nah.

So he shrugs, picking up his mug once he’s convinced that the coffee is no longer out to scald his tongue.

Apparently, the two of them had ended up stumbling into Jackson's dorm at some ungodly hour of the night in a unanimous decision to take a nap. Fast forward to a couple of hours later and they’re now in the kitchen making breakfast together like it's their everyday morning ritual.

"Rosemary?"

"Huh?"

"Do you want rosemary in your eggs?" 

"Uh, no what the fuck, Jackson. Who puts rosemary in their eggs?" 

"People with integrity," the blond replies, holding Jaebum's gaze as he pointedly dashes some rosemary... and chili and pepper and oreganos and garlic powder into the frying pan. Jaebum raises an eyebrow, taking another sip of his coffee.

"I'll stick with salt, thanks." He puts the mug down and waits for Jackson to finish frying his damn eggs so Jaebum could make his own normal breakfast. Just a few minutes ago he'd criticized the amount of sugar Jackson put in his coffee while the latter black-coffee-shamed him. To think that only last night, Jaebum had been so dazzled by the mere presence of this boy baffles him.

The pan makes a popping noise and Jackson yelps, bringing his finger into his mouth to presumably soothe an oil burn. He rolls his eyes at himself and uses his free hand to push shower damp strands off his forehead.

Jaebum stares. Okay maybe he's still a little dazzled.

"Move over." Jackson has transferred his barely recognizable excuse for eggs onto a plate and is now pointing the pan towards the sink. Jaebum doesn't move just to irk him. "Stop taking up all the space!" Jackson shoves him with a hip, making Jaebum laugh as he stumbles backwards, tripping a little over the crumpled kitchen mat behind him. 

The sound of the door jiggling open reaches the pair. 

"Hey Andy," Jackson calls out, passing the rinsed pan over to Jaebum.

Jaebum places it back on the burner, losing interest in the newcomer as soon as the thought of food hits his brain. He hears the roommate's answering voice coming closer to the kitchen but he doesn't bother to turn around until Jackson mentions his name. 

"This is Jaebum." 

Jaebum looks over his shoulder, nodding in greeting. 

"Hi." The guy smiles groggily, doing a sloppy salute before starting to walk off—and then he seems to realize something as he quickly traces his steps back, looking a little more awake this time around. "Wait... are you really from France?" 

Jaebum sighs, Jackson's high pitched laughter drowning out the sound as he resigns himself to being known as the French guy for the rest of his college life. 

 

>><< 

 

**Jackson 14:48**

bonjour

**Jaebum 14:49**

i'll strangle you

**Jackson 14:52**

thats no way to treat ur bf

**Jaebum 14:53**

ok i'm breaking up with you

**Jackson 14:54**

:( au revoir mon petit chou

**Jaebum 14:55**

get out

**Jackson 14:56**

<3

 

"Texting your boyfriend?"

Jaebum almost slams his phone on the table, wiping off the ridiculous smile on his face as he very carefully faces Jinyoung with a neutral expression. 

"Did you tell everyone I'm from France?" He answers the question with a question.

"Have you ever played the game, telephone?" Jinyoung answers his question with a question. Jaebum reminds himself to find less frustrating friends. 

"How is that related to my question?" 

Jinyoung gives him a look, like he can't believe how dumb Jaebum is. 

"Because I told Mark and the others that you were in France for the first year of your program and somebody probably overheard and told somebody else and, you know." He waves his hand dismissively. "Things got distorted somewhere in the middle. Anyway, not that I'm stopping this beautiful blooming relationship or anything but why'd you go after Jackson? I thought you'd be done with the whole dating someone popular after that girl in high school."

Jaebum’s about to tell Jinyoung that the entire thing is a fake mess derived from pettiness (not as petty as Jinyoung pretending to forget Minah's name though) and drunken immaturity when the ex-girlfriend in question enters the hall with a handsome guy on her arm. Jaebum isn't even aware that she's interested in this class—she's always been the science-y type and multimedia arts is the farthest thing from biology—but of course she takes the seat a couple of rows down and directly in line with Jaebum's field of vision. 

This is a declaration of war if Jaebum ever sees one. 

Jinyoung whistles lowly, obviously having recognized the girl. "Awkward." 

Jaebum will tell him about The Plan later, in the confines of their dorm, where no ex-girlfriends can accidentally overhear their conversation. For now, he settles himself for half an hour of annoyance. This is what he gets for trying to be a good student and attending a voluntary orientation? What a hack.

"His nose looks goofy," Jinyoung says, tapping a pen against his lips. 

Jaebum snorts. "Do you think those bangs are real?"

"Can't be sure honestly." 

Jaebum realizes they sound like a pair of middle-schoolers but whatever, it makes him feel better.

"So it's a downgrade."

"Definitely. I mean not much cause, you know, it's just you. If I had been the ex, it would have been comparable to going Ipod Nano from Iphone 7."

"Shut the fuck up you guys have identical noses."

"Shut the fuck up his forehead is probably as big as yours. At least he has the decency to hide it under fake ass bangs." 

"Your ass is fake." 

"Boo." Jinyoung shoos at him, leaning away. "Take it back to the lab and update your comebacks." 

Jaebum finds an elastic on the floor beside his seat and flicks it at Jinyoung. It hits him square on the chin and his outraged expression is so funny that Jaebum has to lean his forehead on his desk, trying not to laugh too loudly.

 

>><< 

 

"So like, you guys  _aren't_  into each other?"

Trust Jinyoung to ask the hard questions. 

Jackson is sprawled on Jaebum's mattress, slice of pizza in one hand and remote on the other. They'd been playing video games earlier but conversations prove hard to hold when they're too busy cursing and yelling at the screen so they resorted to browsing Netflix. 

"Well I mean, I wouldn't kiss him if I thought he was ugly or anything." Jackson shrugs, biting into his pizza to hide a smile. 

"Thanks," Jaebum responds dryly, stealing the remote from Jackson. He chooses a random show—Community, how appropriate—and lowers the volume enough so that the sounds are only background noise. "But yeah, we're not actually together."

"Right." Jinyoung sounds mighty skeptical. "This is all a ploy to show Minah how much you've moved on."

"Yes."

"Exactly."

"Okay." Jinyoung stands, going for the door. 

"Where are you going?" Jackson asks, struggling under a particularly large bite of pizza. 

"To the store. I need to buy some popcorn."

"For what? We're not even really watching." Jaebum reaches down for his own slice of empty calories.

"So I'm prepared for when I watch this whole thing crash and burn."

The door shuts with a click. 

"Dude, your roommate's dramatic as all hell." Jackson rolls around, almost colliding with Jaebum's bent knee on the bed. 

"Tell me about it."

Jackson stays. They lay around doing nothing, Netflix in the background as they fiddle around with their phones. Jackson’s nonstop talking is catching and Jaebum finds himself unable to stop his own flow of words.

“I’m just waiting for Miles Morales.”

“Okay, hipster.”

“What? If I see Gwen Stacy die a second time, I’ll actually break something.”

“Aw did you cry during the movie, JB?

“Shut up.”

“Awwww coochie poo!” Jackson reaches over and boops him on the nose. Jaebum flinches like he’s electrocuted. “You soft pastry, you!”

“What the fuck.”

“Did it break your itty bitty little heart?”

“At least I have a heart.” He bats at Jackson’s flailing hands, trying his hardest to keep a straight face. “Stop that!” His voice lacks its usual bite.

“Shnookie poo!” Jackson continues to coo at him, still attempting to paw at Jaebum’s face. “Soft pudding!”

Jaebum huffs and grabs the other’s wrists, pulling so harshly that it drags Jackson up and right against him, so close that Jaebum feels more than hears his gasp of breath.

“Stop it,” he whispers, eyes boring into Jackson’s wide, blinking ones. “Or _soft_ will be the last word you’d associate with me.”

There’s half a second’s pause before Jaebum finds himself tumbling down the side of the bed, his butt narrowly missing the pizza box lying innocently on the ground.

“Ah!” Jackson squeals, and Jaebum glares over the edge of his bed to find the boy still curled up where Jaebum has left him, but Jackson’s hands now clutch dramatically over his heart. “Jaebum! That’s inappropriate.” But the boy’s smile reaches his eyes and he looks to be one tickle away from laughter.

“Shut your mouth,” he grumbles as he climbs back up the mattress. Jackson is quickly back to smiling down at his phone, leaving Jaebum a little frustrated that he’s missed Jackson’s initial reaction to that daring remark. He thinks he’d honestly punch himself if that grants him permission to see the younger boy blush even just _one_ time.

“Hey, can I use your phone?”

“You’re literally holding your own phone, Jackson.”

“But I need yours.”

“You know that makes you sound more suspicious, right?”

“Are you hiding something in there?” Jackson drops his phone in favour of looking Jaebum in the eye. “It’s unadvisable to watch porn on your phone. It’s easier to track.”

“What the hell? I don’t have porn in here.” Jaebum pulls the device closer towards his chest, offended.

“Okay, then there’s no other explanation,” Jackson sighs gravely. “What shitty music do you listen to?”

Jaebum actually scoffs and sputters, “I don’t listen to shitty music!”

“I’ll accept you however you are, bad music and all—”

“I just said I don’t—”

“Is it at least better than Kidz Bop?”

“Fuck off.”

Jackson laughs, rubbing his eyes before rolling over onto his stomach to face Jaebum better. “Alright, seriously, give me one artist you listen to.”

Jaebum glares at him suspiciously.

“Just one, you stingy old man.”

So Jaebum mumbles something he’s sure Jackson can’t hear.

“What?” Jackson crawls closer.

Jaebum repeats it, even more garbled this time around.

“Outside voice, Mr. Im.”

Jaebum groans, closing his eyes as he tilts his head back towards the ceiling. “Frank Sinatra.”

He waits for the laughter, the inevitable teasing that’s to come—but neither of those things happen. When Jaebum opens his eyes and stares down at Jackson, eyes narrowed, the boy is looking at him with a soft, soft smile and bright, bright eyes.

And then that expression turns wicked and Jaebum only has enough time for a strangled noise before Jackson points at him and starts belting out a disturbingly accurate rendition of ‘Fly Me to the Moon’.

Jaebum wants to say that he hates his life right now.

But he really, really doesn’t.

 

>><< 

 

“Can I use your phone?”

“We’ve been through this last week.”

“Yeah and you still haven’t given it.”

Jaebum puts his pocky down and abruptly pulls Jackson’s chair towards himself. He smiles at the yelp that follows, thoroughly enjoying the moments when he catches the other boy off guard. Jackson’s hands attempt to quickly snatch a pocky stick off of Jaebum’s box but Jaebum has predicted the move and is quick to intercept it.

“Omygod, you won’t give me your phone and now you won’t even feed me. What is this? You’re a terrible boyfriend! The most terrible! No award for you.” Jackson turns away with a huff, grumpily scrolling through whatever feed his screen had up in that moment.

Jaebum chuckles and, being the most terrible boyfriend he apparently is, doesn’t do anything to appease Jackson. He turns away to tell Jinyoung more about the lame project he has do to for one of his classes, set on proving that he _can_ do it without a partner at all because ‘everyone is useless in that class Jinyoung, _everyone_ , including me but I’m the least useless’.

But then Jackson makes a sound and Jaebum looks over to see the boy leaning over Mark’s shoulder, happily showing his friend something on his phone. Jackson must feel the stare as he’s quick to turn around and lean towards Jaebum instead. The older barely has time to process before a phone is being shoved in his face.

“We _need_ to do this, JB.”

“Hold—hold _on_ , I can’t see shit, Jacks.” He steadies the boy’s moving hands in able to look at whatever it is they _must_ do, and promptly snorts. He shoves the phone away and tells him a stern ‘no’.

“Why?” Jackson’s face falls, big eyes all shiny and sad and his lips slowly forming into a pout.

Fuck.

“No,” he repeats, a lot weaker this time, and forces himself to look away. “We don’t even have a fireplace in our dorms.”

“Yeah but Mark does.”

Fucking Mark and his unnecessary money.

“We are _not_ kissing in front of a fireplace in ugly almost-Christmas sweaters.” Jaebum puts his foot down. Besides, Jaebum is sure Mark still dislikes him 40% of the time. He's trying to get that down to at least 20% (or maybe up to 80%, depending on how much of an asshole the both of them decide to be that day) before comfortably calling Mark a somewhat friend at the least.

“But.” Jackson grabs his shoulders, trying to turn him around so they could be face to face but Jaebum is determined not to make the same mistake twice. He will not look at that face in the midst of this argument. “Do it for the gram!” Jackson gives up moving him and faceplants on Jaebum’s arm instead. “We gotta be Instagram official. I wanna put fairytale filters on our cheesy photos.”

“We’re already Facebook official.”

“Yeah but Instagram is _the thing_ right now, get with the times!”

Jackson tries to steal a pocky again when Jaebum ignores him but he must have really bad timing as Jaebum just happens to reach for the last biscuit at the exact same time.

Jaebum pointedly bites into it, finally looking back at Jackson now that his expression has moved on from kicked puppy to grumpy puppy. He nibbles on the stick, chuckling fondly at Jackson’s irate huff and almost choking on the crumbs.

When Jackson starts to shuffle away, Jaebum reaches out, lightly touching his chin with his index finger in a silent bid for him not to move. Jaebum doesn’t break eye contact as he lifts the small bit of the treat left, placing it between his teeth in one corner of his mouth.

He raises an eyebrow, a lingering smirk still in place.

Jackson’s eyes widen a fraction, surprised—but he smiles and goes for it.

Jaebum kisses Jackson for the first time since the party and just like he thought, his drunken mind hadn’t tampered with and heightened the experience—it really does feel as good as it did back then. So Jaebum doesn’t let go just yet, placing a hand on the back of Jackson’s neck to keep him in place. Jackson wraps a hand loosely around his forearm.

They break off quicker than Jaebum thinks they should but Jinyoung, destroyer of hopes and dreams, takes a noisy, gurgling sip of his stupid juice box and ruins the moment. Their whole group can hear the crunch of the little pocky stick from Jackson’s mouth in the brief silence before Youngjae asks Jackson a homework question.

“What was that for?!” Yugyeom whispers, eyes round and scandalized behind his accounting textbook.

Bambam is tapping away on his phone, his grin wide and slightly manic. “The gram,” he whispers back.

 

>><< 

 

Jaebum is checking Instagram later, on his way back from his last class, and sees a photo of himself from the cafeteria, grinning into the kiss. Bambam hashtags it #boyfriends and it has a pinkish fairytale (as Jackson calls it) filter over it. Jaebum laughs, liking it before continuing to scroll.

He’s so busy being nosy about other people’s lives that he doesn’t realize it when someone stops right in front of him. Jaebum goes ahead and barrels into the little person blocking his way and immediately feels bad for accidentally attempting their murder.  

“Shit, sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.” He helps the girl up, scanning the area for any dropped items before continuing, “Are you okay?”

He finally looks up at the person and is shocked to find himself facing with Minah.

“Hi Jaebum," she greets him kindly enough so Jaebum returns the favour, nodding with a tiny smile. “Clumsy as always, I see.”

“Yeah.” He decides he’s been nice enough and is about to walk off when Minah clears her throat. Jaebum has half a mind to continue on his way—maybe she’s just caught a cold—but that makes him look bitter and still hung up on her which are the _exact_ things he’s trying to prove he’s _not_.

So he pauses and looks back.

“I got four free tickets for The Phantom of the Opera,” she says, adjusting her backpack on one shoulder. “And I was thinking that we could go on a double date?”

What the hell.

“Uh.”

“It’d be a good time to catch up,” she continues, like Jaebum has any previous idea that she wants to catch up at all. “And you can meet Keith.” Minah ends there, conveniently leaving Jackson out, like the whole campus doesn’t already know that name.

What the fuck.

“When is this?” Jaebum is so confused he’s pleasantly surprised to find his voice come out normal.

“Next Saturday.”

“Okay, I’ll run it by Jackson.”

“Alright, hope you guys can make it!” She skips off then, leaving Jaebum still taken aback.

But whatever game it is that Minah’s playing, Jaebum is sure of only one thing: he’s not going to let her win.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok first of all thANK YOU for all the positive responses to the first chapter. you guys are awesome and give me life. 
> 
> second of all, the next chapter should be fun :)))))  
> thank you for reading and comments are always appreciated!


	3. Something in Your Eyes

Jaebum stares at the ceiling, fingers twined together on his chest. His thumbs tap restlessly against each other, his mind working a mile a minute trying to make sense of what he’s just gotten himself into.

You see, when he and Jackson had woken up after that party and decided to keep the whole fake dating game up, Jaebum hadn’t actually foreseen Minah doing anything about it. He’d just thought that the whole idea was fun and he’d enjoyed Jackson’s company anyway so why not? Maybe Minah watching them from afar and seeing how much happier Jaebum could be without her would’ve just been an added bonus.

But that scenario has evidently gone straight to hell and now Jaebum is going on a double date with his ex. Great. Fantastic.

 

**Jaebum 00:43**

you awake?

**Jackson 00:45**

a little

**Jaebum 00:46**

have you ever seen the phantom of the opera?

**Jackson 00:51**

?? I don’t watch anything with the word phantom in it

**Jaebum 00:53**

you scared?

**Jackson 00:54**

anyone in their right mind would be

**Jaebum 00:55**

cute

it’s just a musical

but don’t worry I’ll protect you

**Jackson 00:57**

are you trying to tell me we’re watching that phantom thing whether I like it or not?

cause that’s not the start of a healthy relationship you know

**Jaebum 01:00**

it’s for a double date

with minah and her new bf

**Jackson 01:01**

whAATTTTTT

WHAAAAAAAT

for real? lmaoooooo

how’d this happen? when did it happen?? why’d you agree to it??

wait don’t tell me I’ll see you tomorrow im dead tired

**Jaebum 01:03**

goodnight Jackson :)

**Jackson 01:04**

gnight jb <3

 

Jaebum smiles, pulling his comforter up to his chin and breathing out a huge sigh. He figures it’ll be okay, whatever happens next Saturday—with Jackson on his side, Jaebum can accomplish anything.

 

>><< 

 

The loud whirring of the washing machines oddly soothed him and Jaebum has to fight for his eyes to stop drooping as he and Jackson sit together in the laundry room. It’s warm and cozy where they are, close beside the active dryer that Jackson only runs to serve as their heater.

“How did we meet?” Jaebum mumbles, cheek resting heavily against his palm.

“Hm?” Jackson looks up from his homework, smiling that pretty little smile of his. “Why? You don’t think the truth is cute enough?”

“No, I think it’s too cute.”

Jackson rolls his eyes to the ceiling. “That doesn’t even make sense but okay, how about we met through Jinyoung? I did know him before you came.” Jaebum’s expression turns sour, making Jackson chuckle. “What, you don’t like that either?”

“Too bland. Let’s just go with the truth.”

“Okay.” Jackson picks up his pen and resumes doing schoolwork, all the while Jaebum stares at him unabashedly. The younger boy catches his gaze a couple of times but Jaebum only smiles and never looks away. One of the washing machines stop running and Jackson looks up to meet his gaze again. But this time, he tilts his pen towards Jaebum’s cheek and pushes it sideways. “Stop it.”

Jaebum laughs, holding his hands up.

“You know, this would be the perfect time for you to tell me about yourself.”

“Huh?”

“Make yourself useful instead of just staring at me.”

“What do you wanna know?”

Jackson gets up, making his way to the washer as Jaebum is evidently too lazy to do it himself—even though the machine reveals Jaebum’s clothes when he pops it open. “I don’t know? Not too much. We’ve only been dating for a couple of weeks, what are the stupidest, most relevant things you’d tell a stranger you’ve been madly falling in love with?”

“Huh.” Jaebum has his brows raised high. “Have you done this before? You seem awfully well versed in the art of faking it.”

“Maybe.” Jackson transfers Jaebum’s clothes into an empty dryer, motions automatic and with little thought put to it until he comes across something that makes him pause. “But I certainly have _never_ faked it with someone who owns Bart Simpson pajamas.” He grabs the wet pajamas and examines it closer.

“Hey!” Jaebum quickly gets up, reaching out to grab it from Jackson’s hands but Jackson ducks away in time, laughter spilling out from his lips.

“Did this come in a pair?” Jackson shakes it out, dancing away when Jaebum makes another grab for it. “You have to wear the full get up when we have a sleepover!”

“Shut up, it was a gift!” But Jaebum is laughing as he chases Jackson around the small room. He gets him cornered by one of the washers they aren’t using when the younger boy is laughing too much to make a proper getaway. “Hand it over. Now.”

“Only if you promise to let me take a picture of you wearing it.”

“No.”

“Please? Just one!”

“No. Hand it over.”

“No.” Jackson uses an exaggeratedly low voice to mock Jaebum.

Jaebum sighs, brushing a hand through his hair before grabbing at Jackson’s waist and unceremoniously plopping him atop the washing machine. Jackson drops the pajamas in a moment of shock, grasping tightly onto Jaebum’s shoulders to keep his balance. Jaebum leans forward, lips tilted in a smirk and smug from the small victory.

“I like eating snacks.”

“Huh?” Jackson blinks, looking thrown off by the change of topic—or maybe by their proximity but Jaebum only moves closer, one hand sliding down to encircle Jackson’s ankle.

“You wanted to know stupid things about me? I like chocolate, not candy and _yes_ there’s a difference,” he whispers in the space between them, pausing to further his point. “I’m that person who’d choose books over movies and I prefer brunettes.”

It takes a short while for Jackson to respond but he does let out a belated gasp in offense, a grin working its way onto his lips. “Shut up, I’m the hottest thing you’ve seen.”

Jaebum smiles. “Yeah, you are.” He runs a finger through Jackson’s blond fringe and pushes them away from his eyes. Jackson seems to not expect that reply and is quickly back to being mute.

Of course their moment is ruined by someone noisily entering the very unlocked and not at all private property of the basement laundry room. Jaebum finds himself feeling annoyed—and then he’s annoyed at _himself_ for being annoyed because he _shouldn’t_ be, they’d just been _playing_ , there’s nothing to interrupt.

“God damn door—oh. Uh, sorry. I was—um, I… gotta load up?” The cause of Jaebum’s irritation says. Or more like questions, and he feels his negativity dissipate as the hilarity of the situation clicks in.

“Um, go ahead?” It’s Jackson who responds, sparing a look of amusement towards Jaebum.

Jackson slides his hands off Jaebum’s shoulders and it’s only then that he realizes they haven’t moved at all. Jaebum takes his hands back and steps away, picking up the discarded pajama pants on his way back to the dryer. He hears Jackson jump down on his feet as Jaebum loads the rest of his laundered clothes into the dryer.

They try their best to make the silence as comfortable as possible even though all they want to do is fall on the floor and laugh at how awkward the intruder must feel. Jaebum’s pretty sure the guy’s barely even pressed the start button on the washer before he’s making a mad dash for the door.

“Well…”

They look at each other and promptly erupt in giggles.

“How long do you think before that shit is all over twitter?”

“In about ten minutes? Depends who his roommate is.” Jackson is already on his phone, tapping at the screen before looking briefly up at Jaebum. “Wanna beat the crowd?”

Jaebum only gives him a confused look.

“Honestly, you’re so slow.” Jackson rolls his eyes, roughly pulling Jaebum closer and the latter playfully whines in pain. “Shut up, omygod.” Jackson brings his phone up and snaps a photo without further ado, not giving a single fuck about the fact that Jaebum isn’t even looking at the camera.

“What are you doing?” Jaebum peeks over his shoulder, catching a glimpse of the photo and mindfully keeping his face blank as he looks at the still version of himself.

He must secretly be a good actor. So secret he doesn’t even know it. Because that Jaebum on the photo is turned away from the camera, the softest smile on his face and his eyes trained only on photo Jackson like photo Jackson is the answer to all questions in the universe.

“There, we’re also Twitter official!” Jackson’s smile is as blinding as photo Jackson’s.

 

>><< 

 

Jinyoung refuses to take a sip of his drink until they tell him what’s going on. He says he’s watched enough films and shows to know that they’ll use the ‘shock value’ of whatever announcement they have to get him to sputter on his drink, spilling it all over himself. He explains it in such detail that Jaebum and Jackson share equal looks of bemusement.

That thought hasn’t even crossed Jaebum’s mind but, hey, he’s not going to fight whatever tickles Jinyoung’s pickle.

“We’re going on a double date with Minah and her boyfriend,” Jackson says, interrupting Jinyoung’s distrustful tirade. The words promptly shut him up and he looks at them for a second before laughing behind his hand.

"So it's like BYOB?"

"Huh?" Jaebum narrows his eyes because, well, no they're not allowed to bring booze into the theatre if that's what Jinyoung means.

"You and Minah." Jinyoung's face is all squished up like he can barely hold in his laughter. "Bring your own boyfriend." 

Jaebum is actually surprised that Jinyoung manages to finish that terrible joke. By the way he bursts out in laughter the moment he breathes out the last word, he can only imagine how high his best friend values his own humour. 

"Hilarious, Jinyoung. Quit school and be a comedian already."

"Fuck you, Jackson thinks it's funny."

Jaebum looks over and Jackson is indeed smiling as he looks between them. 

“Anyway, so she actually reacted to this whole thing?”

“Right?!” Jaebum slams a hand down on the table. “I wasn’t prepared, especially since the venue is all fancy and we’d have to dress well and—”

“Wait what?” Jackson turns to him. “We have to dress fancy? You didn’t tell me that.”

“I didn’t?”

Jackson punches him on the arm. “You didn’t! What if you never told me and I show up in jeans?!”

“You’d still look better than half the people there.”

“I need to look better than _all_ the people there.”

“What the—you’re the shittiest person I’ve met.”

“Fuck off, Bart.”

Jaebum shakes his head, hiding a grin behind a huge gulp of coffee and catches a glimpse of Jinyoung sipping his tea, pinky raised in exaggerated delicateness as he watches them with an arched brow. “What?”

But Jinyoung doesn’t get to say anything as the rowdy bunch chooses this moment to enter the scene. Bambam sprints to their table, immediately rambling off about a thing that absolutely steals Jackson’s attention. Youngjae, Jaebum’s favourite person, takes the other empty seat beside him with only a murmured complaint about the cooling weather.

“Wow, so is this gonna be our squad café?” Bambam huffs out, leaning his giraffe torso against the table. Mark pushes him back down in his seat.

“Huh?”

“Our squad café! Where we meet always? Like, when we have problems we call up each other and we’d know already to meet at this place, at this exact table? This is _our_ table now!” The guy practically yells out, gestures all grandiose. Jackson, ever the instigator, only laughs along and doesn’t stop him.

The rest of the group only stares at Bambam strangely.

“Bam, I think you need to cut down on those sitcoms.”

“No! You’ll see. This is definitely the start of something.”

 

>><< 

 

They return to the same place on Thursday but the café is full and their supposed table is occupied by their school’s entire track team.

Jaebum’s convinced Bambam’s going to cry actual real fat tears until Yugyeom pats his best friend on the back and happily offers to help him find a better squad café.

 

>><<

 

Jaebum’s freaking out.

His one suit jacket still fits him well and he’s just recently purchased new dress pants so he looks pretty tailored and wrinkle-free as of the moment—but what if he’s too _ugly_ to pull off the look?!

Alright, somewhere in the back of his head Jaebum knows he’s being irrational and grasping at everything that can go wrong but that’s just his way of coping with nerves. He decides to leave his room, and hopefully the dorm soon, before his brain goes ahead and decides that he’s wearing the _wrong shade of black_ for the turtleneck under his suit.

“Jinyoung!”

“Yeah?” Jinyoung is studying on the couch, piles of paper neatly stacked beside his laptop.

“Do you remember where I put my nice shoes?”

“Very back of the top shelf.”

Jaebum mumbles his thanks and proceeds to shove everything on the top shelf aside to get to his dusty ass oxfords. He wipes at them until they’re obnoxiously shiny before actually slipping them on. With nothing else to do, Jaebum kills time staring at the mirror and nit-picking at his hair—he’s pushed it up like he did at that not-so-fateful party—he thinks it looks pretty good.

Should he take off his earrings though? He likes the aesthetic and they make him look classy enough but not _too_ formal which goes perfectly with his getup but what if—

“Holy shit. Stop thinking.”

“What? I’m not.”

Jinyoung ignores him as per usual. “Holy shit. I think your reflection is sending some kind of alien SOS signal straight into my brain. I _cannot_ concentrate so please stop thinking.”

“That doesn’t even make sense.”

“Go away and pick up your boyfriend, Jae.”

Jaebum frantically looks down at his watch and is relieved to see he’s still got a good fifteen minutes.

“Okay, I’m going I hope you fail your essay.”

“I hope you shit your pants.”

“Fuck you, bye.”

Jaebum closes the door and heads to Mark’s. Jackson says to get him from there for whatever reason.

He finds out the reason when he knocks on the door and Mark is the one to answer, greeting him with a nod and clinking car keys being shoved in his hand.

“Don’t scratch it.” Mark mentions casually, like he didn’t just hand over a vehicle costing more than Jaebum’s trust fund. “Jackson’s heading down soon, he’s just looking for his phone.” He waves Jaebum inside and leaves for the kitchen before the latter can even register the meaning of the keys in his grip.

Is he… really… driving Mark’s Mustang today?

The Double Date of Doom isn’t looking so doomish any longer.

“It was in the bathroom, not your dumb study room!” Jackson’s voice yells out from upstairs and Jaebum hears Mark snicker from somewhere in the kitchen. “You lead me astray, Mark! I trusted you.”

“Sorry,” is the older’s dry response.

“Anyway, I think I have like five more minutes—Jaebum!” Jackson sees him from the top of the stairs and immediately runs down. “Why are you early?”

And Jaebum swears to answer once he manages to breathe properly.

You see, Jaebum is aware that Jackson is gorgeous on a normal basis. His eyes are aware, his mind is aware—he’s generally prepared to greet such superior genes on the daily.

It’s just that he’s never thought about the possibility of this guy being any more handsome than usual so he’s caught a little off guard right now.

Jackson’s hair is no longer blond—it’s a dark shade of brown, almost black without the light—casually styled in an effortless looking side part. His black button up is loose enough to look soft but not lousy, the top button left open (and seeing how far apart each button is situated, Jaebum is only human to have a hard time looking away).

“Jaebum?” Jackson has a grin on his face and Jaebum is embarrassed but he’s always hidden that pretty well. “You done?”

“No,” he quickly tries to cover his tracks. “Stand there for three more minutes, I’m early anyway.” He pretends to exaggeratedly check Jackson out.

Jackson rolls his eyes. “You’re so dumb.” But the smile doesn’t leave his face even when he turns to grab a long gray coat by the door. “See you later Mark, thanks for the car.”

“Not a scratch, Jacks.”

“Yessir!”

Jaebum starts heading for the car parked in front of the garage but Jackson stops him.

“We’re using mine.”

“Yours?” Jaebum raises a brow, looking longingly at the Mustang.

“Well, not _actually_ mine but I use it more than he does, so...” Jackson codes open the garage door and suddenly Jaebum is lusting after the Mustang no more.

There’s a sleek blue Camaro in front of him and Jaebum didn’t believe in love at first sight until then.

Jackson peeks at his expression and laughs. “I _guess_ I’ll let you drive.”

Jaebum fumbles with the keys in his hand, certain that he looks absolutely crazy right now but he doesn’t care—he’s thankful that he somehow got Mark to hate him only 2% of the time in due course for this date.

 

>><< 

 

But of course, because this is Jaebum’s life and he’s not allowed to have too many nice things at once, he rereads Minah’s Facebook message only to realize that they’re half an hour earlier than the actual meet up time. Thankfully, Jackson looks unaffected, only laughs and tells him to take the longest possible route to the theatre.

So Jaebum does. And it’s perfect, because he knows exactly which way to take.

When Jaebum was young, he’d sit at the backseat of his parents’ car while they drove around aimlessly in a weird, tamely adventurous way to hang out together. His dad would take the quietest roads littered with little shops, or the most beautiful ones filled with huge, blooming trees after trees after trees.

Jaebum’s favourite is what he calls the Wonderland Road.

Not many people know of it—it’s out of the way for most locations after all, and Jaebum’s always wondered who exactly maintains the area to keep it looking so ethereal even after all these years.

His father always took his mother there, and whenever they passed by a thick bush of roses, his dad would roll down the window, pick a flower out, and sweetly hand it over to his mom. He’d then drop a penny in the old stone fountain by the end of the long, long road before they leave the peaceful forested area.

He drives towards Wonderland Road, not minding that Jackson would see their secret place at all.

Jackson doesn’t ask where they’re going and that simple little show of trust makes Jaebum happier than the fact that he’s driving the most luxurious car he’s ever ridden.

They talk in quiet voices for a bit, like old time friends on a road trip, before Jackson reaches for the music dock and begins thumbing through his playlist while obviously suppressing a smile. Jaebum immediately knows he’s up to no good.

 

_Making my way down town_

_Walking fast_

_Faces pass_

_And I’m home bound_

 

“No!” Jaebum blindly reaches for Jackson’s phone, intending to unplug it or throw it on the ground—anything to stop the music, but Jackson bats at his hands.

“Yes!” Jackson cackles back. “And I need you,” he continues, dramatically singing along. “And I miss you.” He does a shoulder shimmy that gets Jaebum laughing. “And now I won…der!”

“Oh god…”

“IF I COULD FALL INTO THE SKY!” Jackson throws his hands out in the air, narrowly missing Jaebum’s face. “DO YOU THINK TIME WOULD PASS ME BY!” He then honest to god snaps and points both fingers towards Jaebum and really, how could Jaebum decline that offer?

“CAUSE YOU KNOW I’D WALK A THOUSAND MILES!” Jaebum falls into temptation and yells along, purposely out of tune. “IF I COULD JUST. SEE. YOU.” He looks towards Jackson.

“TONIGHT.” They scream in chorus, ending the impromptu duet by terribly imitating the following piano sounds.

Jackson lowers the volume on the speaker, still breathing out chuckles as he looks out the window and pays attention to their surroundings for the first time. “Mr. Im, are you seriously taking me deep into the forest to kill me off after that wonderful performance?”

“Objection Mr. Wang, I’m killing you off for making me _join_ that performance.”

Jackson laughs. “You liked it.”

Jaebum slows down, driving past the rose bushes where his dad picks out the brightest, biggest bloom for his mom. He’s looking for something else—the one he knows is abundant and particularly beautiful around this time of the year—the one that reminds him utterly of Jackson Wang.

He stops at a bundle of soft, white daisies. Wild and beautiful.

Jaebum rolls down his window and carefully picks one out, wordlessly handing it to Jackson.

Something shifts, barely noticeable and at the same time, completely undeniable. Jaebum doesn’t know how to explain it but his heartbeat accelerates to the point of it echoing in his ears, loud and screaming a message that Jaebum is unwilling to hear.

Jackson runs a finger over the flower’s soft petals, slowly bringing the daisy up to his chin and tilting his nose against it.

Jaebum flicks a penny into the fountain where it lands with barely a sound.

“Thank you,” Jackson murmurs belatedly.

And Jaebum wonders why, in all the years he’s called it Wonderland, did this place never really feel as magical as it does now.

 

>><< 

 

They get to the venue with barely a minute to spare. Jaebum takes a deep breath when he spots Minah and Keith already seated by the theatre’s huge, stained glass windows. He parks the car nearby, in clear sight of the couple, and gets a smug satisfaction out of Keith’s gaping mouth.

Jaebum saunters out of the Camaro and leans over the open passenger side. “Ready, boyfriend?” He asks, holding out his hand with a teasing smirk.

Jackson twirls the daisy in between his fingers. “Of course, boyfriend.” The younger boy takes his hand, pressing the flower delicately against his seat before pushing the car door shut.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this was a week late and i have no excuse other than the fact that i took too many naps u n u  
> but here it is! i hope you liked it and comments make my day as always <3
> 
> i was going to put the double date in this chapter but this would've been waaaay too long  
> and also, to those wondering what the title of this fic meant... well that is the completely... anticlimactic answer... LMAO


	4. I Can't Deny

So Keith is a senior and an absolute douchebag.

Jackson sips on his iced tea, leaning all the way back into the fancy leather couch of the waiting area as if wanting to get as far away from the guy as possible. Jaebum shares the sentiment, he’s just less showy with his feelings than Jackson is.

They’d all previously decided to meet up an hour before the actual showing in order to have enough time to ‘get to know each other’. So far, they haven’t gotten past Keith’s introduction as the man proves to absolutely _adore_ talking about himself.

The most entertaining part is how Minah looks just about as done with him as Jaebum and Jackson are.

Jaebum feels a small ‘aha! That’s what you get!’ moment before it passes in a blur of Keith’s endless prattling.

Minah abruptly stands up. “I’m gonna go…” She makes vague motions toward the general direction of the bathrooms. “Powder my nose,” she finishes with the most sarcastic tone and the longest eye roll known to man.

Jaebum mentally stomps all over the oncoming smile he feels as he waves her off. He hates it when he gets reminded of the little things that made him fall in love with her. 

Thankfully, Jackson has the same exact humour as they do and clues in on the joke. “Have fun powdering.” He’s staring at the huge chandelier above Keith’s head as if willing it to fall down and end their suffering. Jaebum doesn’t hold back his snort.

For a weird, world tilting second, the three of them share looks of exasperated understanding that feels almost… good. Like comrades in the face of some unwanted nuisance. What a way to start a date.

Minah walks off and leaves the two of them with her (most likely soon to be ex) boyfriend.

“… and the prof asked for my presentation to show his other classes or something.” Keith laughs at his own story, clapping his hands together as he leans forward. “So, Jackson Wang.”

Jackson looks at him with a polite smile.

“Never thought I’d get to see you again. You’re an elusive one aren’t you?”

“Depends.” Jackson pokes at the ice cubes left in his empty glass.

“On what?”

“Lots of things.”

Keith laughs again. “Hm, I guess you’re not too keen on attending parties hosted by Alpha Rho, huh?” He leans back, spreading his arms and smirking cockily. “Don’t worry man, we hold no ill feelings from last year.”

“No offense but I don’t give a fuck about your feelings from last year.”

He’s never regretted his decision to take up the placement in France during first year rather than the third year but right now, he finds himself wondering how things would’ve gone if he’d done it that way.  

He’s 100% curious as to what the hell happened last year.

Jaebum catches Jackson’s gaze and raises an eyebrow in question but Jackson only rolls his eyes with a tiny, carefree smile and makes a vague gesture that Jaebum guesses means he’ll tell him about it later.

Neither of them get a chance to continue with the topic when Minah comes back. She rushes back to them with a story of some girl choking on _coffee_ , of all things, in the bathroom. Jackson thinks it’s hilarious at first and then he seems to remember his morals and immediately asks if they need to call an ambulance.

Keith doesn’t like the conversation veering away from him so of course he manages to make the topic about himself. “I learned first aid from when I was a lifeguard.”

Jaebum’s attention grudgingly shifts to the guy. “You swim?”

“Yeah, I work part-time.”

“Cool. I was in the swim team in high school.”

“Oh?” It’s Keith’s turn to question, looking like Jaebum had just challenged him to a duel.

“The swim coach on campus already approached Jaebum about joining the team when try outs start,” Jackson says, reaching for Jaebum’s glass of water and stealing a drink. Jaebum frowns at him playfully and Jackson only responds with a cheeky grin. “He was one of the top swimmers in the region even back in high school.”

He’s not going to lie—it feels good to have someone, other than his parents, brag about him so lovingly.

“But wait. Do we need to call an ambulance?”

Minah realizes that she never answered earlier. “Oh! No, no. She’s fine now. Just gave the custodian a little bit more work.”

“The coach as in Mr. Leloup? Or was it Mr. Lars? Cause Lars is just an assistant you know, he knows nothing.”

Jaebum figures Keith won’t give it a rest until he wins.

“Why the hell would he be an assistant if he ‘knows nothing’ as you say?” Jaebum retorts, mindful of his tone even though he can feel his irritation gradually rising. “And no, it was Leloup I was talking to.”

Keith scoffs. “How would you know? You’re new here.”

Holy shit. Jaebum is losing brain cells talking to this idiot.

“The fluent French he used with me kind of clued me in,” he says, allowing himself to be _snide_. Jackson beside him looks delighted—maybe it’s because of Jaebum fighting back, or maybe because he just remembered about the late night take out Jaebum’s promised to buy him tomorrow and is holding onto happy thoughts to get through this. He never really knows.

The sound of Minah’s light laughter surprises him and Jaebum stops glaring at Keith and his stupid hair.

“That just reminded me of the whole French guy thing going on with you at school. It’s so funny,” she explains when they all look at her.

Jackson laughs too. “Yes! Sorry, that might’ve been my fault.”

Jaebum’s head swivels so fast he’s minutely worried about the state of his neck—but the moment passes and he returns to looking at Jackson incredulously. “What?”

“I called you ‘The French Guy’ the whole time between the first time we met until Mark’s party.” Jackson grins, unapologetic.

Jackson had talked about him after that first meeting. Jaebum had made enough of an impression for this gorgeous boy to talk about him even after the fact.

Jaebum’s heart does a thing. A thing he forcefully shoves into the dark ‘deal with later’ part of his brain.

Instead, he groans, “You started the telephone!”

Jackson laughs that distinctive laugh of his, understanding the joke right away which makes Jaebum wonder whether he and Jinyoung have been talking about it behind his back. Jaebum reaches out to smack him, but Jackson ducks just in time, laughing harder at Jaebum’s failures.

“C’est des conneries.” Jaebum shakes his head, mumbling to himself as he half-heartedly raises a hand again. He’s given Jinyoung too much credit for spreading the ridiculous rumour.

Jackson catches his hand and weaves their fingers together, apparently hearing Jaebum’s barely audible words. “C’est vraiment des conneries,” he responds, grin wide and eyes scrunched up all cute like he didn’t just swear in a foreign language.

Wait what.

“What the hell? You understood me?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“The fuck? So you’re secretly a French guy too? Do I get to call you that?”

“I’m probably not as fluent as you, Mr. I Keep The Hot People A Secret.” 

“I told you they’re not as hot as the blonds here!”

“Okay but that line doesn’t work with me anymore.” Jackson raises a challenging brow, obviously indicating his newly changed hair colour. His lips twitch in an effort to keep stern.

“Okay.” Jaebum doesn’t try to tune down his own grin. “They’re not as hot as you. Better?”

Across from them, someone clears their throat.

_Right._

Jaebum tries not to laugh as Jackson wiggles his eyebrows obnoxiously before facing the couple across from them. He watches his supposed date clap his hands together and bounce up from his seat looking for all the world _so excited_ to see the play when Jaebum knows exactly how he feels about it.

The older boy is aware that he’s most likely sporting a huge, dumb smile right about now but doesn’t care so much when Jackson turns to him with a wide smile of his own.

“Let’s go see this nice _phantom._ ” He squeezes Jaebum’s hand a little too tightly, his beautiful smile adopting a sarcastic twist and Jaebum grunts in protest.

“Sure thing, _baby_.”

Jackson twitches. “Can’t wait _honeybunch_.”

“ _Boobear_.”

“ _Cinnabon_.”

“ _Peachpie_.”

 

>><<

 

The thing about The Phantom of the Opera is that Jaebum has seen it a billion times.

So he resorts to watching Jackson watch the play, which is turning out to be the best decision he could have made. Jackson is so damn expressive Jaebum can tell exactly which scene the guy is reacting to without bothering to tune in to the actual shenanigans happening on stage.

He watches Jackson gasp in offense and Jaebum can’t help but huff out a chuckle. Jackson turns at the sound, his expression half questioning and half distracted. Jaebum shakes his head, mouthing ‘nothing’ and Jackson turns back to the stage.

But now that he’s aware of Jaebum’s staring, it seems that he can’t shake the feeling off. He frowns and kicks at Jaebum’s shin, eliciting a mock wounded sound from the latter.

Jaebum shoots him a betrayed look. “What?”

“Pay attention.”

“I am.”

“You’re not.”

“I am. Paying attention.” He smirks. “To you.”

“Omygod, shut up.”

“I thought you don’t like anything with the word phantom in it?”

“Shh!”

Jackson blindly bats at him with one hand before quickly snatching the limb back and putting it back under his thigh. He watches the other shiver slightly and wonders why Jackson hasn’t complained about the cold yet—was the show really so interesting that Jackson Wang passes up an opportunity to whine?

Jaebum shrugs off his outer layer, quickly placing it over Jackson before the warmth gets sucked out by the cold theatre. The younger boy turns to him with the cutest close-lipped smile and Jaebum instinctively reaches out to take one of his hands and warm it in between his own. He settles back into his seat, brushing warm fingers over Jackson’s knuckles before finally turning his attention back on stage.

He only registers that Minah’s lingering eyes are trained on them after the fact.  

 

>><<

 

Turns out that none of them could actually comfortably afford watching a decent play in a decent theatre _and_ go out to eat at some fancy restaurant right after. So the four of them head towards a diner that’s popular amongst the university population in their fancy clothes and fancy cars. Jaebum lets Minah and Keith think whatever they want in regard to his shiny car and not so shiny wallet. He’s too hungry to care.

They’re all set up in a booth when the questioning happens. In retrospect, Jaebum and Jackson should have known this would happen. In retrospect, Jaebum and Jackson should have prepared for this more than that sad attempt they did that one time in the laundry room. But just like the chemistry project collecting dust under Jaebum’s bed, he’s neglected to think about it like the procrastinator he is.

“You guys met _and_ got together at Mark’s last party?” Minah asks, eyes narrowed as she sips her milkshake.

“No, we’ve known each other before that.” Jaebum isn’t completely lying.

“Oh. So you knew him before he transferred?” The question is directed at Jackson, who nods naturally like they aren’t about to bullshit their way out of this.

“It was like 3 months before—”

“Around 2 months before school—”

They started and ended at the same time, pausing and looking at each other in momentary shock.

Jackson doesn’t miss a beat. “You don’t remember me? That first time?!”

And Jaebum rolls with it. “What are you talking about? We were at that laundromat the first time!”

“I asked for your help at the grocery store before that!”

“What? No?” Jaebum doesn’t think any version of himself would ever forget any version of Jackson he meets for the first time in any universe but he plays the part for the sake of fixing their little slip.

“Wow.” Jackson stares at him. “I’m starting to rethink this. I don’t think we’re gonna work out.”

Laughter from across the table interrupts them and they let the topic slide, Jaebum decides to keep silent for the rest of their ‘story’ unless Jackson explicitly asks for his contribution. They make the half-baked mess work somehow; with Jaebum supplying little details to make them more convincing and Jackson just generally being his regular convincing self. They don’t mess up too badly.

But now the biggest challenge is to remember everything they’d just gone on about.

Jaebum excuses himself to the bathroom, needing a very cold splash of water on his face.

 

**Jaebum 20.01**

that was wild

 

**Jackson 20.03**

[[image attached]](https://media.tenor.co/images/f54899c193e88befd170879067673fed/tenor.gif)

 

>><<

 

They survive the final hour or so of the Double Date of Doom and Jaebum has to laugh a little at himself for getting so worked up over the whole thing.

Don’t get him wrong, Keith is obnoxious as fuck and Minah is shady at best but at the end of the day, the guy is just some jock too absorbed in himself to do much damage and the girl is just an ex trying to prove something that, frankly, completely went over Jaebum’s head.

“Well that was nice.” Jackson pulls on his seatbelt and delicately places the daisy on his lap. Jaebum looks away from the flower, feeling irrationally flustered at the sight of it.

“We didn’t end up killing each other so yeah, I guess it was nice.” Jaebum shifts gear, shooting Jackson a smile as they drive off the parking lot. He turns the wrong way at the intersection, intentionally prolonging their way back home in a bid to lengthen his time driving Mark’s car. Or so he tells himself. If Jackson noticed the bad turn, he doesn’t say anything.

“I’m so tired.”

Jaebum looks over and sees Jackson closing his eyes. “Hey, no. You can’t sleep.”

“Why not?”

“You’re riding shotgun. It’s in the passenger seat rulebook, you can’t sleep if you sit there.”

Jackson has his eyes open again, looking at Jaebum incredulously. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve heard.”

“Yeah well 400 bucks for a school textbook is the stupidest thing I’ve heard yet here I am.”

Jackson snorts, straightening a little in his seat as he looks out the window. They allow a brief silence to take over and Jaebum hums a pleasant tune in his head until he catches movement at the corner of his eye.

He smacks Jackson’s hand away from the stereo buttons. “You’re banned from music duties.”

It doesn’t offend him when the only response he receives is gleeful laughter but he does smack Jackson’s hand a second time when the guy tries to sneakily plug his phone onto the speaker.

“Stop it.”

“I promise I won’t play anything that brings out your inner tween.”

“My inner—shut up you know the words better than I do!”

“Yeah, I do.” Jackson is so utterly, unapologetically _himself_ Jaebum doesn’t know what to do sometimes.

So he rolls his eyes, remembering a topic he’s wanted to bring up just in time. “What was Keith on about? Earlier before the show?”

“Hm? He was on about a lot of things Jaebum, you’ll have to specify.”

“The thing about you not attending their parties.”

“Oh!” Jackson looks up, blinking at the suede of the car for a moment before laughing a little. “I mean, I don’t care much about them anymore, I generally don’t attend a lot of parties you know? But I dated their frat leader last year. He was a senior so he’s gone now. Thankfully,” he mumbles the last part to himself but Jaebum still caught it. “Uh, something happened and I realized he was an asshole so I broke up with him.” He huffs out another laugh as if he can’t help it. “He wouldn’t accept it though so I kind of lost it.” He pauses, turning to Jaebum this time. “You ever seen the movie ‘She’s the Man?’”

Jaebum blinks at the sudden change of subject, still stuck on the drama he’s missed out on while out of the country. “Um, yeah? Yeah. Why?”

“Remember the part where Viola broke up with Sebastian’s girlfriend at the restaurant?”

“Yeah, it— no way!” Jaebum laughs, thankful of the slow traffic for once. “Did you?!”

“I did.” Jackson chuckles along. “Very publicly. At one of his parties.”

“Yikes.”

“Yup.” Jackson clears his throat, smile widening as he looks at Jaebum. “That’s actually why I’m so popular.”

“Seriously?” Jaebum laughs some more, leaning into the wheel before throwing his head back against the seat. The traffic only moves slightly. “Could you be any more cliché?”

“Probably.”

He barely hears the soft response. Jaebum finally opens his eyes when the laughter subsides and Jackson’s smile is just as soft as his voice.

The car behind them honks loudly.

 

>><<

 

Jaebum’s sad to part with the Camaro once he’s got it parked inside Mark’s garage but, just as they say, nothing gold can stay.

“Stop being dramatic and get outta there,” Jackson calls out from outside, scrolling through his phone nonchalantly. Easy for him to say—Mark would probably give the car to Jackson if he says please.

He sighs and steps out from the lap of luxury.

They chatter mindlessly as they walk slowly, ever so slowly, in the direction of Mark’s front door— Jackson is sleeping over for the weekend in accordance to some age old tradition that neither of them wanted to get rid of. Jaebum is endlessly amused.

“You sure you’re okay to walk back? I can drop you off.” Jackson turns around and walks backwards, carefully feeling for the steps leading to the front door.

“Mhm. Could use the walk.” Jaebum pats his stomach, still full from the greasy diner food from earlier.

Jackson rolls his eyes. “The dorm’s like 5 minutes away.”

“I’ll take the longest possible route.”

They exchange a grin at that. 

“Okay,” Jackson whispers, moving onto the first step and brushing a hand through his hair. A loose strand falls back onto his forehead and the extra height beneath Jackson’s feet closes the difference in theirs. Jaebum steps forward, close enough to hear the startled intake of breath, to see his reflection in Jackson’s bright eyes, to brush that wayward strand back with his own hand—it would be so easy. So, so easy.

Jaebum tucks his hands into his pockets and smirks. “Goodnight, baby.”

Jackson steps on his foot.

“Ow! Hey, you got dirt on my pants!” He whines, noticing the smudge at the edge where his shoes touch the end of his pants.

“I’ll wash it with my laundry,” Jackson retorts, sticking his tongue out. “Goodnight.”

“That’s cold, sweetheart.”

“ _Bye_ Jaebum.”

The last he sees before Jackson shuts the door is a poorly concealed smile and a daisy still held carefully between two fingers.

 

>><<

 

Jaebum walks to the dorm in a good mood, feeling like nothing that happens now can ruin his day. He doesn’t remember the last time he’s felt so satisfied with the day’s happenings. Hell, he’s even ventured out of his own Spotify playlist and put one of those ‘good vibe’ public playlists that they have on. He feels that good.

And then his dorm room opens before he could even get his keys out.

“Did you buy my potatoes?”

“No?” Jaebum slips off his fancy shoes, putting them away in a dark corner of the shoe closet never to be seen again.

“But I texted you?” Jinyoung follows him around, looking like a mad scientist on the verge of falling off the deep end. He guesses the essay isn’t going too well.

“I didn’t see the text.”

“But I need my potatoes Jaebum!”

“Why the fuck do I have to buy you potatoes?!”

“Why the fuck not?!”

He goes to the store in his fancy slacks and beat up chucks and buys the fucking potatoes.

 

 

**Jackson 21.56**

forgot to give back ur jacket

I had two jackets with me the whole time outside mark’s

how did we miss that

 

**Jaebum 21.57**

meet at the laundry room tomorrow?

 

**Jackson 21.57**

what time?

 

**Jaebum 21.58**

text me when you wake up

 

**Jackson 21.59**

I usually wait til after the second date for good morning texts

but I’ll make an exception for u ;) ;)

 

**Jaebum 22.00**

funny

you certainly didn’t wait til the first date even finished before dirtying my pants

 

**Jackson 22.00**

HOMYGOD

STOP

 

Yeah, absolutely _nothing_ can ruin his day.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *nervous laughter* IM SO SORRY i've had a wild last 2 months!! but anyway thanks to everyone still reading!! even tho i'm slow af!! wow do u even remember what happened last chapter 
> 
> next update probably won't take another 2 months omfg and if anybody hasn't seen she's the man yet, [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R19vunaU7aM) is the scene they're talking about in the car
> 
> are you suspicious yet  
> where's the drama  
> why is everything fluffy  
> is there even gonna be drama??
> 
> the world may never know


	5. I Get a Rush

As the leaves shrivel and fall from their branches, Jaebum has never felt more alive. It’s his favourite time of the year—when everything is dead and Christmas is just around the corner. Jinyoung always claims that his description of autumn is mildly disturbing but Jaebum doesn’t care about most of what Jinyoung says.

Anyway, Jaebum can’t properly enjoy the weather he’s waited for all year long due to a little mishap that he’s accidentally brought upon himself just a couple weeks prior. You see, he somehow got into the university’s soccer team—even though he’d only tried out so that Yugyeom would stop whining about feeling awkward _all by himself_ because his best buddy Bambam is ‘too busy being a kumquat to handle the jock life’. Yugyeom’s words, not his. 

And now he’s lying starfished on the soccer field, tired and sweaty and unnecessarily giddy with adrenaline left over from their practice game. The captain and a few others lay in similar positions around him, laughing about something Jaebum’s failed to hear while Yugyeom is off on the other side chatting around his newfound friends like the social butterfly he is. So much for being all by himself. 

At least the captain and his little band of merry sidekicks seem to think that Jaebum is cool enough to hang around. Maybe it’s his above average soccer skills, maybe it’s the fact that he’s supposedly dating Jackson. 

Speaking of, Jaebum crawls toward the benches, grabbing his haphazardly strewn gym bag to fish his phone out of one pocket. He has a couple of new text messages that he bypasses in order to get to the three new snapchats from one Jackson Wang. The other boy’s away for some inter-college fencing training so they’ve resorted to snapchatting each other their respective sport training woes.  

He smiles at a photo of Jackson pouting at the camera, the caption a vague complaint about the view of the ceiling not being beautiful enough for the amount of torture he has to suffer through. 

Jaebum’s angling his phone above his head to respond when a notification blocks his camera view, alerting him of a Facebook message from Minah. He swipes it away with a flick of a finger and snaps an ugly photo of himself to send to Jackson, captioning it with a sarcastic ‘bet you can’t wait to come back to this view’ before opening up the message.

 

**Minah 14.21**

Hi! How’s soccer practice?

 

He frowns at that, having no recollection of telling her anything about his soccer situation. 

 

**Jaebum 14.25**

Good so far

 

**Minah 14.25**

I’m sure you’ll do well. Just like in swimming!

 

**Jaebum 14.27**

Thanks

 

**Minah 14.28**

Anyway, do you have a partner for that project in class yet?

 

His confusion only rises with the question—yes he remembers they have that one dance class together—Jaebum only took it because he needed to choose one more elective real quick to get the extra credit he wants. It was one of the few that had empty spots for late registrations and he had no idea that she was in that class at all. 

 

**Jaebum 14.32**

No I thought the prof will assign partners

 

**Minah 14.33**

Yeah, but she’s open to suggestions. Do you wanna partner up?

We already know we’re good together so should be a piece of cake.

 

**Jaebum 14.34**

Pretty sure prof wants to assign partners though so we’ll see

 

Jaebum closes the app and mutes his notifications to impatiently check back on snapchat, refreshing his main page every five seconds like he’s got nothing better to do.

Not to be needy or anything but that picture he sent was very ugly and deserved at least a laughing emoji.

 

>><<

 

He gets a response approximately four hours later where he’s cozily lazing around in the dorm, binge watching Supernatural and ignoring the essay he’s got due in two days. 

Jackson’s sent him a photo of himself, his eyes droopy with exhaustion but no less bright than usual, chin cradled with one hand as he stares at the camera with a soft smile. It’s captioned with a single red heart.

Jaebum startles when his ten seconds to view it are up and the picture disappears from his screen. He quickly hits the replay button and panics for a whole six seconds before deciding _fuck it_ and taking a screenshot of it. He tells himself that he’s long past feeling shame by now.

 

**Jackson 18.52**

(¬‿¬)

 

**Jaebum 18.52**

my hand slipped

 

**Jackson 18.53**

(¬‿¬)

 

**Jaebum 18.53**

stop

 

**Jackson 18.54**

(¬‿¬)

 

**Jaebum 18.55**

you’re so annoying

 

**Jackson 18.56**

(¬‿¬)

 

**Jaebum 18.56**

holy shit

 

**Jackson 18.56**

you miss me (¬‿¬)

 

He doesn’t notice Jinyoung sitting right beside him until his friend takes an unnecessarily loud bite of his chips, presumably to grab his attention. Jaebum’s head snaps towards him, feeling his own expression lose the smile he hadn’t even been aware he sported. 

“Is that Jackson?” Jinyoung asks in between bites, angling his chin at Jaebum’s phone. 

“Yeah.” Jaebum clears his throat, not sure what else to say. “Good fencing practice.”

“Hm.” Jinyoung nods, his eyebrows slightly narrowed. “How’s your, uh, relationship thing going?”

“Why?” Jaebum’s annoyed with himself for feeling defensive but he thinks it’s valid given the very odd question. Seriously, who _asks_ that? “It’s still going.”

“Didn’t you already prove to Minah that you’ve moved on and stuff? Do you really have to keep going with your game?”

For some reason, Jaebum feels his temper rise at the word _game_ being used to describe what he and Jackson had—but then again, there really isn’t anything better to describe what they’re doing other than a _game_ which makes him even angrier. Hell, he isn’t even completely sure that he and Jackson even _had_ something—which only serves to get him _even_ _more_ agitated. 

“What’s it to you?” Jaebum has to consciously watch his tone, knowing that getting bitchy over this would only make things worse. “You didn’t care about it before. Do you have a sudden problem with Jackson or something?”

Jinyoung doesn’t answer right away. He’s stopped eating his chips, now fully engaged with the discussion he’s started. Jaebum watches a range of expression play through his best friend’s face—it starts out pinched then contemplative before moving on to annoyance but it eventually settles into a mildly constipated look that Jaebum knows very well means that Jinyoung’s got something to say but he isn’t sure how exactly to say it.

It’s the same expression he wore way back when Jaebum had first told him that he and Minah were in a relationship and Jaebum doesn’t know what to feel about that.

“It’s just.” Jinyoung sighs, folding his bag of chips in half and throwing it off the couch. “You don’t even know him that well.” 

Jaebum bristles. “Neither do you? Last I checked you only knew _of_ him and Mark. You just started hanging out with his crowd recently. You know, _after I befriended him_.” 

His goading doesn’t work, Jinyoung only rolls his eyes. “You weren’t here last year, Jae. I heard some stuff. He—”

An alarm goes off somewhere in the vicinity of the bedrooms and Jinyoung immediately bolts up, swearing up a storm as he sprints—legitimately _sprints_ —towards the door and leaves, barefoot and empty handed, for who-knows-where. Jaebum could still hear the echo of his steps from where he sits stunned on the couch.

Jinyoung returns only a minute later, yelling out a frantic “I’m gonna be late for the group meeting!” as he scrambles to grab his shoes and his school bag before slamming the door shut without a single backward glance. 

His best friend truly is a whirlwind. 

Jaebum doesn’t get much time to contemplate what he’d been about to say mostly because he doesn’t want to dwell on it, but also because his phone buzzes with a text from a certain someone. 

 

**Jackson 19.08**

no? :c

 

**Jaebum 19.08**

maybe I do

 

**Jackson 19.09**

<3

 

>><<

 

Jaebum’s the kind of person who shops for presents—Christmas or birthday or otherwise—at the very last minute possible. He thrives on the feeling of pressure and adrenaline like a fat boy thrives on that first bite of chocolate cake. 

But apparently, Jackson isn’t that kind of person.

“Jaybeeeeee,” says an annoying voice from somewhere behind him but Jaebum doesn’t turn around, choosing to continue feigning interest in a stack of books from the historical non-fiction section. 

“Jaebum.”

He picks one out of the shelf and mindlessly ruffles through the thick pages. 

“Jaebum!” 

Burying his face further into his scarf, he shoves the book back where it belongs and gets ready to move on to the next section when loud stomping footsteps make a sudden approach. Jaebum waits for the outburst that usually accompanies the angry walking but it surprisingly never comes. 

“Hyung?”

Fuck. 

Jaebum’s stomach drops all the way down his toes. He swallows his tongue. His eyeballs fall and block the path of his nostrils. His general _everything_ rearranges in panic. Jaebum is no longer human. He is now 98% stress and 2% confused innards.

“Who taught you that?” Jaebum whirls around, pulling his thick scarf far away from his face, the cold temperature forgotten. 

“Really? That’s what got you talking?” Jackson tilts his head to the side like a curious puppy, eyes wide in wonder as he continues in that same innocent tone. “Hyung?”

Fuck. He's cute.

“Don’t you have some shopping to do?” He decides to veer away from the topic, not wanting to entertain the reason why he’s acting like a loon over _one simple word_. 

Jackson studies him for approximately two seconds longer than Jaebum is comfortable with before finally replying with a cheerful grin. “Not just me! _We_ have some shopping to do. You gotta start Christmas shopping early! You know how stressful it gets around here.” 

Jaebum wants to say that he's perpetually stressed out but he has a feeling that would only trigger a lecture on eating healthy organic foods so he doesn't say shit. 

And so begins the fiasco that Jaebum has tentatively named, ‘The Non-date’.

He refuses to acknowledge how much time he’s thought about this ever since Jackson sent him that one fateful text message. In his defense, it started out as a group thing—with Mark and Jinyoung and the rest of the crew in on the plan—but their friends had to back out at the last minute due to a range of school related things. They all agreed to meet up at Jaebum and Jinyoung’s dorm later to chill instead. 

Jackson wouldn’t let go of the shopping plans at lunch though and Jaebum is the whipped one who doesn’t know the word ‘no’ around the younger boy. 

“Just give them all chocolate. People are happy with chocolate,” Jaebum says, running his eyes over shelves upon shelves of things he doesn’t care much about.

“That’s a horrible idea and I’m gonna pretend you never said it.” Jackson walks determinedly forward, all high and mighty as he nudges Jaebum on the shoulder when he passes by. 

But not even ten minutes has passed before the two of them are standing before a brightly lit board with the gigantic and equally bright ‘ARCADE’ sign hanging on it’s neon surface. 

“Just a few rounds?” Jackson asks, high and mighty no longer as he succumbs to the call of impossible-to-beat machinery and overpriced tokens. Jaebum shrugs, secretly pleased with the turn of events.

“First one to beat the claw buys lunch tomorrow,” Jaebum offers, frowning when the token machine spits out his crumpled money with no explanation whatsoever. 

Jackson snatches the sad looking money from him and pointedly feeds his own crisp five dollar bill it into the slot, successfully receiving little gold coins for his effort. “Sure thing. I’ll have the big brunch special.” 

“And I’ll have an avocado toast,” Jaebum says, taking his sad money back. 

Jackson cups his hands around his mouth. “Hipster alert,” he announces right next to Jaebum’s ear. 

Jaebum swats at him with his now straightened dollar bills. “Fuck off, it’s the most expensive thing on campus, I can’t afford that on a normal day.”  

“Okay, whatever you say.” He walks off, wandering further into the loud mess of brightly coloured gaming stations. “Hipster.” 

“Yeah well this hipster’s gon’ get your wallet emptied out tomorrow so you better prepare.”

“Okay, whatever you say.” Jackson repeats— with a lot more attitude this time. Jaebum flicks him on the forehead for it. 

The thing is, Jaebum had, once upon a time before the treachery of adulthood sunk its claws into him, too much time on his hands and too little Youtube videos to watch. So he somehow ended up watching a series of videos on how to cheat your way through arcade games for maximum winnings. 

That being said, his non-date is currently looking like the human version of inverted question marks as Jaebum wins round after round after round…

“What is this?!” Jackson’s last straw is when he realizes he’s only got two tokens left.

“What’s what?”

“This!” Jackson sounds hilariously outraged. “You! You keep winning things?” A small Captain America tsum is deposited by Jaebum’s feet. “I think the one I’ve got is faulty, let’s switch.” He crosses his arms and pouts at the little pile of stuffed toys Jaebum had.

“Sure.” Jaebum shrugs, tone carefully hiding his amusement as he subtly resets his machine’s settings before they switch over and he manipulates Jackson’s previous claw machine into maintenance mode so that he’d continue winning no matter what.

Jackson inevitably loses again and he stands there huffing as they both watch Jaebum’s nth win happily tumble down the slide. 

“You know what, let’s just play other ones, hm?” Jaebum ruffles Jackson’s hair and offers to buy his next set of tokens to try and appease him. Jackson relents, turning away to continue mumbling angry incoherent words towards avocados and Jaebum uses the distraction to quickly reset the game. 

But he doesn’t do it fast enough.

“What were you doing just now?” Jackson’s not sulking anymore, looking strangely at Jaebum instead.

“Hm?” He tries to play innocent, not making eye contact as he gathers his prizes in one arm.

“You were moving that thing around. I saw you doing it with this one too.” Jackson gestures towards the claw machine in front of him, now looking highly suspicious. 

“Nothing. It’s like a ritual, it brings me luck.”

“But you did that at the end of the game.”

“So?”

“So what luck are you aiming for?”

“Luck for… you to eat dinner with me later?”

“Shut up, I’m literally going home with you after this.”

“Wow, see? It gives good luck!”

“Shut up, oh my god.” Jaebum watches Jackson wipe at his face to hide his smile.

“Okay, fine. It’s a little trick.” Jaebum sighs, knowing Jackson would watch him like a hawk for the rest of their time here and find out anyway. 

“Aha! I knew it!” Jackson stabs at his chest with a forefinger. “What’s it do?”

So Jaebum tells him all about his Youtube adventure many years ago. 

“You filthy cheater!” Jackson gasps, leg flying up to kick Jaebum’s ass. The latter is laughing too hard and actually drops his poor stuffed toys on the ground and has to carefully sidestep them to wrap his arms around Jackson’s flailing body. “You destroyer of truths!”  

“Don’t be a sore loser,” he murmurs affectionately by Jackson’s ear. 

The younger boy squirms, laughing slightly at the ticklish feeling. “I’m not, teach me how to do it too, the fuck.” 

They buy more and more tokens as Jaebum shows him how to win at least five different arcade games, collecting so many toys that they had to give some of it away to the children nearby. A staff member eventually notices what they’re doing though and they’re asked to step out of the arcade.

And also to give up all their winnings.

But the guy takes pity on them and lets them keep one stuffed husky that Jackson promptly names Kitkat. 

 

>><<

 

In the end, they both grab a bunch of flavoured chocolates for most of the people on their Christmas list and call it a day. 

Jackson grumbles about it while Jaebum gloats, swinging the plastic bags enthusiastically as they walk.

“Not so horrible of an idea now is it?”

“Jaebum, I have two dollars left in my wallet right now. I Iiterally don’t have any other choice,” Jackson says accusingly. 

“Hey!” Jaebum smacks at him lightly and manages to graze Jackson on the cheek. The boy bats at him grumpily which only makes Jaebum laugh more obnoxiously. “I never told you to spend all your money trying to win that stuffed pineapple.”

Jackson ignores him. “I bet this would be more productive if I was with Mark instead,” he retorts, leaning his back against the shelter beside their bus stop. “He would’ve stopped me instead of indulging my bad habits in that arcade!”

“Ouch.” The other male winces, placing a hand over his heart as he pouts exaggeratedly at Jackson. “Mentioning another man’s name in my presence? When will you stop hurting me?” 

Jackson doesn’t hold back his smile, sparing Jaebum a look when he kicks his foot out to lightly nick at his calves. “Never,” he responds, walking off when their bus arrives.  

Jaebum follows, still wearing a pitiful expression as he tries to get in Jackson’s face. “I’m pretty sure this isn’t how you’re supposed to treat your special someone.”

But Jackson doesn’t even look up from scrolling through his phone. “Hm? Where’s my special someone? Did I miss our fateful first meeting?”

“Ah.” Jaebum collapses against the metal pole near one of the back exits of the bus, hugging it to his chest. “Just leave me here to die.”

Jackson stops beside him, rolling his eyes. “What are you dying from?”

“Heartbreak,” he answers dramatically.

It gets Jackson laughing and Jaebum smiles at the sound of it, straightening his position to hold the bag in his hand more comfortably. He’s just finished adjusting his grip on the pole when the bus stops with a sudden lurch, almost knocking Jackson right off his feet if the boy hadn’t been quick enough to grip at Jaebum’s shoulders. The latter was quick to grab him around the waist, bringing Jackson closer to his chest.  

The only repercussion being that the bag in Jackson’s hand swings up to hit Jaebum on the back of his head from the abrupt movement. 

“Ow,” Jaebum mutters, looking down at Jackson’s startled eyes. “Even when I try to be your knight in shining armour you still manage to hurt me.” 

“Sorry,” Jackson mouths back, using his free hand to pet Jaebum’s head. 

A sea of people apparently decided to get on the bus from that particular stop and the boys aren’t given any room to separate themselves with a more acceptable distance for the platonic pals that they are. Jaebum scoots back a little and raises his grip on the pole so Jackson could lean against it, freeing up more space for the overworked commuters in the ride with them. 

Their conversation pauses, a little awkward now that so many people could easily overhear anyone and everyone’s conversation— what with how tightly they all packed themselves in this one bus. 

The next stop brings in _even more_ people and Jackson’s hand reaches back up to Jaebum’s shoulder, grip tightening a little as he brings him in closer. Jaebum goes with it, looking to the side just in time for a rattled looking business man to shove his way past, disgruntling some of the passengers who failed to move out of the way. 

Jaebum tilts his head forward and comes face to face with a sight he didn’t know he needed until the opportunity presented itself. 

Jackson isn’t looking back at him, focused instead on a spot to the right of Jaebum. 

Cliché is now apparently Jaebum’s middle name as he catches himself contemplating how long Jackson’s eyelashes looked up close. 

He let his eyes wander over the boy’s face, noting his sharp jawline and his pretty cheekbones and the shape of his eyes and the perfect tumble of his hair over furrowed brows—

Jaebum sneaks a glance behind him to see what Jackson is staring at. 

It was some guy around their age or maybe a little older, he stood tall enough to reach the bar on the ceiling to hold on to with one hand while his other was busy rapidly texting on his phone. He isn’t paying attention to them as far as Jaebum can see.

Jaebum brushes a finger against Jackson’s hair, effectively stealing his attention from the stranger.

“You really gotta stop hurting me like this,” he whispers playfully, raising an eyebrow. 

Jackson shakes his head, scrunching his nose at him as he uses his grip on Jaebum’s shoulder to shift him more to the right. It brings them even closer and Jaebum’s sure their noses would be touching if Jackson hadn’t slid down slightly so that his head stood just above Jaebum’s chin. He’s also pretty sure that Jackson is now entirely invisible to the rest of the passengers.

But Jaebum stays exactly where Jackson had placed him. Personal space is overrated anyway.

He plops his chin on top of Jackson’s head and ignores the annoyed grunt he gets for it.

 

>><<

 

Jaebum’s glad he had the forethought to tidy up his room this morning when he and Jackson decided that it’s completely normal to shut themselves inside Jaebum’s room while the rest of the crew is out grabbing food. 

The two of them sit on the floor, Jackson with his back to the bed while Jaebum lies flat on his back, throwing and catching his stress ball up as they chat idly. Jackson stops critiquing Jaebum’s meagre class notes when he spots the guitar out of the corner of his eye.

“You play?” He asks, giddy like a child. 

Jaebum nods, not bothering to move from his spot as Jackson crawls over to grab at the instrument. He raises an eyebrow at Jaebum in a silent request to which the latter only repeats a nod.

Jackson carefully places the guitar in his lap, clumsily placing his fingers to play surprisingly correct notes as he pretends to think. “Hm, is this how you get your dates?” He strums slowly, a cheesy grin playing on his lips. Jaebum laughs, now moving to try and snatch the guitar away from the other’s grip but Jackson only slides away.

“What do you play for them?” He squints at Jaebum. “Something cool?” Jaebum only raises an eyebrow in response. “No, no it has to be something cute.”

There’s blessed silence for a moment before Jackson gasps in excitement. “Oh, I know!” 

Cue bad strumming and sloppy note transitions. “ _If we were a movie..._ ” Add in a bit of purposely terrible singing. “ _You’d be the right guy!_ ” A rather excessive increase in volume. " _And I’d be the best friend..._ ” Some dramatic facial expressions. “ _You’d fall in love with!_ ” And an oddly timed pause to point finger guns at Jaebum. “ _In the end we’d be laughing, watching the sunset—_ “ He really shouldn’t be enjoying this as much as he is. “ _Fade to black, show the names, play that happy song…_ ”

Jaebum doesn’t even stop the horrible rendition of a song he admittedly liked when he was like _twelve_ and really, no one can fault his choices when he was at that age. He’s too busy curled up on the floor, laughing. Jackson is smiling as well and he’s stopped playing the guitar now, kicking at Jaebum’s legs to get his attention. 

“So? Was I right? You play these cutesy pick up songs?”

“No, what the fuck, give me that.” Jaebum finally gets off the floor to snatch the guitar out of Jackson’s hands. The boy easily gives it up, leaning his elbows on his knees and watching Jaebum eagerly with his face cradled in his own hands. 

“Okay, wonderboy, show us what you got.” Jackson bats his ridiculous eyes and Jaebum has to fight the urge to swat him. 

Jaebum strums idly for a few seconds, humming at the ceiling as he thinks of what to play. He only returns his gaze back on Jackson when the boy makes an impatient sound. Jaebum is ready to reprimand him but words get stuck on their way out his throat as he watches Jackson shift his stance. 

Jackson is no longer exaggeratedly pinning all his attention on Jaebum but his eyes remain watchful and his smile remains genuine. His whole demeanor screams content, like being in Jaebum’s tiny room waiting for him to play some random song on his old guitar is something he actually looks forward to. 

His fingers stutter on the strings and he covers it up by pretending to check if his guitar’s tuned correctly. He buys himself time, also using the distraction he’s created to look away from the boy across from him. He’s not very sure what to do—the jump in his chest is unfamiliar territory. 

Jaebum is all about using charming words and, mostly, fabricated confidence to get his way. He’s no stranger to this whole affection and relationship business. Obviously. 

But Jackson. 

He absolutely knows nothing on how to deal with it. 

He powers through, grasping at that little confidence he’s so used to stretching to impress _the fuck_ out of this boy who somehow has him wrapped tightly around his tiniest finger. His right hand moves over the strings of his guitar, the shape of it so familiar in his grasp that he doesn’t need to move his eyes away from Jackson’s captivating ones as he plays the first set of notes. 

_[O](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ec68wZ6_ks)nly you can make me feel like I do_

It’s a pleasure to watch Jackson’s eyes widen, his lips parting a little, at the sound of Jaebum’s voice.

_But you don’t know ‘cause it never shows through_

Jaebum pauses a little, smirking before hitting the next note. 

 _Try to find things to say, to make you notice_  
_But every word runs away, before they're spoken_ _  
__I find myself, tied up in emotions_

Jackson looks completely taken and Jaebum wants to keep that expression only for himself.

_I step back when I should've told you—_

The door slams open, effectively bursting the little bubble they’ve built between the two of them and Jackson looks as startled as Jaebum feels when they both turn their heads towards the intruder. 

It’s Bambam and an apologetic looking Yugyeom peeking in from behind him. 

“Did I hear a guitar in here? I’ve been learning to play too!” The boy barrels inside, only kept from grabbing the guitar from Jaebum’s slack hands by his best friend’s unrelenting grip.

“Bam, the pizza’s waiting in the kitchen.”

“Yeah?” The older of the two freshmen frowns, not understanding why Yugyeom is telling him something he already knows.

“You’re super hungry, remember? We can solve that. Outside. Where the pizza is… you know. The place that is not in this room?” Yugyeom stresses, subtly trying to pull the other out of Jaebum’s room. 

“Huh?” Bambam doesn’t budge.

“You _really_ want that pizza, don’t you?” Yugyeom tries to speak slowly. “It’s very close by… just a couple of steps… away… from here.”

But Bambam doesn’t quite get it—so Yugyeom widens his eyes exaggeratedly and gives him _a look,_ making the boy immediately perk up.

“Right!” He turns towards Jaebum and Jackson, both of whom have just watched the entire exchange in silence. “Pizza!” The boy looks back at Yugyeom, now looking a little panicked for whatever reason. “I’m a slut for pizza!” He yells out too loudly.

There’s a still silence as neither of the younger boys move despite the enthusiastic declaration.

And then comes the mad scramble out of the room while the two older ones just watch on, still without uttering a word. 

“...Right.” Jackson is the first to recover, looking wholly amused. “Are you also harbouring promiscuous feelings towards some slices of baked bread?”

Jaebum almost chokes on a laugh. “Hell yeah.” His head shakes slowly. “I guess we need to go to the kitchen. Where the pizza is. Away from this room.” He imitates Yugyeom, earning a quiet snicker from Jackson.

Jaebum carefully puts his guitar aside, the magic of the moment gone and he buries the minuscule feeling of disappointment blooming in his chest as he feels a string of something not quite tangible slip through the cracks between his fingertips.

And he can’t help but think of how bittersweet it is, to know how much he’ll miss these moments he’s living in, when it all inevitably ends.

  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hahaha hello folks it's been sO LONG. 
> 
> my old laptop broke a couple months ago and I was too angry about it to start over again that's why this update took forever but!! I would like to mention special thanks to every single one of you who commented and hit kudos on this story as every email I got from ao3 literally kicked my ass into writing until I finally finished this chapter.
> 
> It feels too strange to respond to comments from last chapter now that it's been like months since then but know that I read every single one and loved everything you guys have to say and I'm just so thankful that people still read this despite the random hiatus
> 
> see you next chapter!


	6. Everytime You're Standing Near Me

The thing about being an introvert is that you’re a lot more sensitive to the atmosphere around you than you let on. And no matter how much other people may think that Jaebum is an extrovert (for whatever _absurd_ reason), he is 100%, purebred, vegan-made introvert.

So he’s very much aware of the fact that Jinyoung and Mark have been very passive aggressively angry with each other for the past couple of days.

Mark is sitting across from Jaebum with Jackson and Youngjae placed between him and Jinyoung. Bambam and Yugyeom are beside Jaebum, surprisingly the only ones who seem genuinely engrossed in their school work.

He nudges Jackson with a light kick to his foot, trying to be discreet about it as the rest of them stare blankly at their computer screens. Jackson’s eyes flicker towards him but immediately go back down to his laptop with a shake of his head. Jaebum manages to frown for approximately ten seconds before his phone lights up with a message.

 

 **Jackson**   **11.18**

Not sure whats going on either

 

He lets the clicking of typing fingers wash over the silence for a while before Jaebum rolls his eyes and just decides to go straight to the source.

 

**Jaebum 11.20**

did you and Mark fight?

 

**Jinyoung 11.21**

stop being nosy

 

**Jaebum 11.21**

I can’t? it’s literally my job to be nosy

 

**Jinyoung 11.22**

????

 

**Jaebum 11.24**

I signed an agreement

part of the job application from your mom

right beside the hourly wage she pays me for being your best friend

 

**Jinyoung 11.24**

how much is she paying you?

 

**Jaebum 11.25**

That’s classified

 

**Jinyoung 11.26**

Your mom gave me a $2 raise last year

 

**Jaebum 11.26**

gtfo

stop trying to change the subject

 

 

Jinyoung doesn’t reply, blatantly ignoring Jaebum even as the latter tries to stare him down.

And he really would’ve pestered Jinyoung to the brink of insanity if the younger chunk of their crew didn't suddenly start up an escalating argument over some textbook problem. Youngjae isn’t even studying the same material as Yugyeom and Bambam so Jaebum isn’t sure how that happened.

“I don’t understand,” Youngjae says, his expression reflecting the confusion in his voice. “They’re all red.”

Yugyeom shakes his head, looking ready to explain again but Bambam finally looks up from his own work to see Youngjae’s textbook for himself. “No, half of them are green.”

Youngjae stares at them accusingly. “Are you playing a prank on me right now?”

“Dude, no. This is serious matter!” Bambam flails a hand around. “You think we joke about studying?”

“Yeah?” Youngjae doesn’t sound like he believes them. “Ok well maybe you should get your eyes checked.”

Yugyeom throws his hands in the air with a frustrated garble, “Why don’t _you_ get your eyes checked?”

“I’m not the one seeing green on red!”

“It’s two on one, _you’re_ the one who’s colour blind.”

“I have an eye appointment next week, you wanna fight me on it?” Youngjae looks ready to jump across the table. “Let’s compare results after!”

“I can’t get my eyes checked, I have no insurance!” Yugyeom slams his textbook close.

“What kind of adult doesn’t have insurance? You guys are babies!”

“Oh yeah?! I bet you can’t even tell a lime from a lemon!” Bambam throws in, not helping douse the situation at all.

“Anyone with a brain can smell the difference!”

Jaebum looks at Youngjae and barely manages to hold back a remark. The fact that he has to smell the difference says a lot about this topic but he keeps his opinion to himself.

“Prove it then!”

“How in the f—“

Jackson, filthy enabler that he is, readily volunteers the lemon from his water and the lime from Mark’s little noodle dish. His eyes shine with utter glee. Jaebum looks over to see that Mark has temporarily paused his brooding to tune in as well.

Okay, Jaebum thinks that they’ve all had enough of this study session.

“Guys.” He slaps Youngjae’s hand away from the goddamn lemon. “We should head out. We can’t hog this table for too long.”

“Why not?”

“It’s bad form,” Jaebum deadpans.

The rest of the group shuffle reluctantly out of their seats, gathering their garbage and starting up another argument of who will throw out the trash. Jackson grabs the tray to end the prattling and Jaebum follows him to the trash bin.

He wordlessly drops his forehead on Jackson’s shoulder from behind.

“You okay, Bummie?” 

Jaebum groans. “Please don’t call me that.” 

“Why not?” Jackson laughs, leaving the tray atop the bin and turning around to face Jaebum. The older boy loses his headrest and is forced to face the world again. “Bummie.”

“I’m so tired,” he complains, feeling completely drained. Between soccer practice and keeping up with his academics, Jaebum thinks his bones are shrinking under the pressure while his brain melts from all the studying he crams into it each night.

Jackson’s hands are warm when they rest against his cheeks. “Let’s take a super long nap after the game, okay?” His thumbs run soothingly over his skin and Jaebum closes his eyes, leaning against the touch. Yes, the game. The stupid hyped up home game is tomorrow and Jaebum has an important test in about three hours that he feels very unprepared for.

“Okay,” he says. “But first I’ll go fail a test worth 30%.”

“You’re too smart to fail the whole 30%.”

“Yeah?”

“Mhm. Maybe only 20%.”

Jaebum chuckles, thinking he could fall asleep right there, upright but warm and comfortable. 

He opens his eyes when Youngjae calls out to them from the door.

Jaebum isn’t even thinking about it when he grabs one of Jackson’s hands on their way out and doesn't let go until they separate for class.

 

>><<

 

He’s standing in a dark corner of the field where the many spotlights surrounding them don’t quite reach, talking himself out of being a nervous wreck when the metal fence beside him rattles.

Jaebum turns, squinting against the bad lighting to see who dared to interrupt his ritualistic brooding.

“Hey.” Minah’s leaning up against the fence, arms crossed. She raises an eyebrow when he stares at her in puzzlement. “I know how you get before games.”

Ah. That’s right.

“I’m fine.”

Minah looks unimpressed, but she doesn’t leave. Jaebum doesn’t know if he’s grateful that her presence irritates him enough to keep his mind off the pre-game nerves or if he’d rather continue panicking in peace. 

“You didn’t bring your lucky charm,” she says, and Jaebum isn't sure why she’s doing this. 

“It lost its magic,” he retorts, tone blasé to match hers. Like it’s no big fucking deal at all. He’s getting too riled up for this conversation. “Gotta go.”

“Good luck!”

It’s a little grating how she acts like everything is all good and well between them. Jaebum jogs up to the bench where the rest of his team are warming up, feeling ever so ready to kick some ass. He’s contemplating whether he really needs to take a sip from his water bottle or if he’d regret it later when, from the corner of his eye, he sees someone jump the fence beside them.

“JB!” Jackson runs up to him, all casual like he hadn’t just scaled a barrier twice his height.

Jaebum drops his water bottle and meets him halfway. “Was that even allowed?”

“I don’t know but they’re too slow to stop me anyway.” Jackson smiles, waving to the rest of the team. The captain looks exasperated but he waves back and lets them be. “I just wanna say good luck.”

“And you couldn’t say that from outside the fence?” Jaebum laughs, the tension in his muscles easing a little.

“Uh, no?” Jackson gives him an incredulous look. “That’s not nearly as dramatic as this.” Then the other boy stands on the tips of his toes to press a sweet little kiss on Jaebum’s cheek. 

“What, that’s it?” He whispers, eyes soft as his fingers itch to touch the warmth Jackson’s lips had left. “No real kiss for me?”

“If you win,” Jackson starts walking backwards. “Maybe you’ll get a real one.” He shrugs, shooting Jaebum a final smirk before he climbs back to the other side of the fence.

Jaebum grins and scores the first goal of the game.

The whole thing doesn’t run entirely smoothly. Soccer isn’t his sport of choice— any contact sport (however remote the contact part may be) isn’t his first pick, really. The first half sort of makes him feel a little murderous towards the opposing team and Jaebum wants to curse Yugyeom a little for forcing him into the try-outs and then curse the captain for even getting him _in_ the damn team.

Though it still feels pretty good to hear the audience cheer every time they score. Swimming isn’t nearly as popular with the school body as soccer or football or basketball so Jaebum basks in the attention, looking over at Jackson every time he does something considerably cool only to see his supposed significant other laugh over it every single time.

And alright maybe he’s having a little fun.

Their first game ends about as well as they hoped it would. Jaebum gets by mostly through sheer rage and competitiveness but now that they’ve won, he’s slowly reverting back to his generally exhausted disposition.

There’s a lot of back patting and shouted congratulations and Jaebum sees their team manager unlock the fence separating the field from its audience. He thinks the person who scored the winning goal is being lifted by some of the guys but Jaebum barely even has any energy left to laugh at the spectacle.

They get swallowed up by the crowd in seconds and Jaebum quickly loses track of how many people tried to talk to him in the span of a few minutes. He smiles and nods, looking over their heads in hopes of finding his actual friends. He’d even lost Yugyeom despite wearing the same uniform as him.

“Wow, look at you.”

Jaebum whips his head around, automatically smiling at the sound of that voice. He momentarily forgets how mind numbingly tired he is and runs straight at Jackson, plastering his gross, sweaty self against the protesting boy.

“Ew!” Jackson yelps, placing his arms between their chests to keep Jaebum away. “Get off of me!”

Jaebum only laughs, tightening his arms around Jackson’s waist in protest. “You promised me something.” He leans down, rubbing their noses together.

People bump into them from all sides, and Jaebum thinks that’s Bambam’s voice hollering over to the right but the two of them don’t really pay attention, stuck in their own bubble of sort.

Jackson scrunches his nose in response. “No I didn’t, I said _maybe_.”

Jaebum shakes his head. “Shut the fuck up,” he huffs, fond as can be, and kisses Jackson.

The hands previously pushing him away are now curled into his jersey, bringing them ever so slightly closer as Jackson tips upward. Jaebum slides one hand up to support the back of his head, smiling into the kiss.

“Right in front of my salad?!” Yeah, that's definitely Bambam hovering somewhere on their right side. Jaebum raises a middle finger in his general direction, not letting go until Jackson huffs out a little laugh, unable to take it seriously anymore when the rest of their horrible friends join in on the teasing.

Jaebum pulls away and rests their foreheads together. “How’s that for dramatic?”

Jackson throws his head back and laughs. “I mean, neither of us did a running jump so…”

“You want a redo?” He offers, raising an eyebrow as he waves their intertwined hands up and down.

“What?”

“Run and jump at me, come on.”

“This is not a cheesy teen movie, Jaebum.” But Jackson is already backtracking either way.

“It is now.” He spreads his arms wide open, wiggling his fingers as he waits. Jackson rocks up and down where he stands, looking like he’s preparing for a fight rather than going through with some dumb joke.

“Incoming!”

But both of them are already too engrossed in their laughter to even attempt the act successfully. Jackson barrels straight into Jaebum, failing to actually jump before ramming his entire self onto him and practically body checking Jaebum’s wide open stance.

Jaebum, honestly a little winded from the force, exaggerates the impact and falls to the ground— not before folding his arms around Jackson and dragging him down the cold, damp grass of course. They’re laughing and rolling around like naughty little children by the time Jinyoung strolls over to swat them with the glittery ‘Go Jaebum and Yugyeom!!’ poster board they all put together the last ten minutes before heading over to the game.

 

>><<

 

Against his better judgement, Jaebum finds himself stuck at another party. This time it’s the post-game celebration where everyone is feeling extra wild from the high of winning a match.

He doesn’t have Jinyoung as a buffer, his best friend opting out of it to get some much needed sleep. Jaebum thinks Jinyoung is smart and he should have definitely followed his example. Not to mention Jackson and Mark seem to be running late— if they even plan to show up at all. How did the team convince Jaebum to attend this party again?

“Cause you’re a sucker,” is Youngjae’s unhelpful answer as they sit together by the kitchen counter. There’s a huge gallon of watered down beer right beside them and it looks like Youngjae has had about a quarter of the entire thing. For someone who takes their studies so seriously, Youngjae sure knows how to party it up all the fucking time.

Jaebum is only on his first cup. The drinks are so very shitty compared to Mark’s party.

He wanders off to see if he can wait outside for Mark and Jackson to arrive, simultaneously avoiding unwanted conversation that way. He’d asked Youngjae if he wanted to come but the younger boy shook his head, citing his strong need for alcohol keeps his ass glued to the barstool.

It’s a struggle to even get through to the living room from the kitchen. The place isn’t as big as Mark’s so the crowd is a whole lot more ridiculous to navigate through. He has to do an actual detour around the backyard to enter the living room from the back door and _then_ head towards the front lawn from there. It takes him an unnecessarily long amount of time to get to where he’s at, what with being stopped byso many faces he can’t associate names with— he’s apparently a big _somebody_ around campus now, huh.

Too busy dwelling on how amusing that thought is, Jaebum doesn’t realize that Keith is directly in the way of the front door until the guy is right in front of him.

“Hey man!” Keith greets him like they’re all fine and chummy.

“Hey,” Jaebum is a lot less enthused.

“Turning into quite the big shot now, are we?”

 _Not we, just me_. Jaebum simply shrugs.

“It can get overwhelming, all this attention you know. But you’ll get used to it. Took me like, what? Two weeks to go back to doing normal things?” Keith keeps babbling on, strictly ignorant of the negative amount of fucks Jaebum has to offer.

“Cool.” He tries to sidestep the other male in hopes of escaping the conversation.

“Oh by the way,” Keith continues, like he doesn’t realize how badly Jaebum wants to leave. “Minah and I broke up.”

Jaebum’s pretty sure he and Jackson predicted that outcome after the end of the double date but how is this relevant to his interest?

“Okay?”

“Just thought you should know.”

“… Why?” Jaebum genuinely wishes he’s drunk enough to deal with this.

Keith snorts, looking all sorts of smug. “Dude, she broke it off for you, and I know you still want her too.”

And he’s officially lost grasp of this conversation. “Uh. No.”

“Right.” Keith reaches over and pats him on the shoulder, Jaebum glares at the hand like it personally offends him. “It’s okay man, I’ll take Jackson off your hands and you and the bitch can run off together.” He laughs, like anything about what he said is even remotely funny. “I mean, I don’t see the hype about her but whatever, to each their own I guess.”

Jaebum puts his cup down on the windowsill beside him and brushes Keith’s hand off his shoulder. “First of all, you need to stay the _fuck_ away from Jackson if you know what’s good for you.” He gets right up in Keith’s face, minding that his hands stay off the bastard lest he end up strangling his goddamn neck. “Second of all, Minah dumping your ass has nothing to do with me, she just realized how much of a _dickweed_ you actually are.”

Keith’s expression quickly falls to rage, and he shoves Jaebum back with a furious curse.

But Jaebum’s prepared for it so the force only gets him to lean away, and he calmly reaches back for his drink, fully intending to walk out the door without another word.

Until Keith’s fist hits his jaw and all hell breaks loose.

He isn’t sure how long they go at it until the encouraging chants fade off, and Jaebum feels two sets of hands pulling him away from the fray. He goes easily, shaking his hands when he realizes that unfurling them feels a tad bit painful.

“Alright, we’re leaving.” That’s Mark’s voice in front of him. When did they get here? “Fucking hold him back, pal. I’ll run him over if he tries to follow, I swear to god.”

Jaebum looks up to the sight of Mark’s back— he’s staring down the two Alpha Rho members holding a wildly angry Keith from springing back up and starting another brawl. Someone gently tugs on his hand, getting Jaebum to look down to where Jackson has his sore fist held in between both hands. He feels the fight drain away from his system and his first thought is, hysterically, that Jinyoung is going to _hate_ that he’s missing out on all this drama.

“Yeah, walk away!” Keith mouths off as they’re leaving. “Just wait ’til your little boyfriend gets tired of you too!”

He frowns at the off-hand statement, noticing how Jackson immediately turns around and looks about ready to rip him a new one. Mark barely manages to catch Jackson, shaking his head once.

There’s a tense couple of seconds where nobody makes a single move.

Then Yugyeom materializes from the kitchen and throws whatever’s left of the gallon of shitty beer at Keith’s seething face.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I ain't gonna bore you with why I took so long to update but eyyy we made it through the halfway mark!!
> 
> Thanks for sticking around!
> 
> This chapter is pretty tame and shorter than the rest but hopefully I'll see you guys in the next chapter where shit (also halfway) hits the fan :))


	7. Everytime I Hear You Say My Name

“Stop whining.”

Jaebum keeps whining.

They’re at Mark’s house now, all of them had booked it out of the party after Yugyeom threw the beer at Keith’s face.

He cackles to himself, the scene getting funnier the more it replays in his mind. “Ow!” 

“Stop whining,” Jackson repeats in the same blasé tone, dabbing at Jaebum’s injuries with no single amount of gentleness to be found.

“Are you upset with me?” 

It takes a while to receive an anti-climactic, “No.”

Jaebum sits there, tolerating the sting of disinfectant against a small scratch on his jaw as he thinks of how to alleviate the tension.

“You should’ve seen the other guy,” he mutters sheepishly.

“I did,” Jackson huffs, rolling his eyes at the terrible joke.

“Okay, what’s up?” Jaebum grabs the hands now working on a nasty bruise on his temple, stilling the movements. “You say you’re not mad at me but you’re acting like it.”

“I just didn’t take you for someone who gets into fights,” Jackson snaps at him and _ah_ , finally there it is. So he _is_ mad.

“He started it." 

“It doesn’t matter.”

“What? So you want me to just stand there and let him punch me?”

Jackson doesn’t say anything but he pulls his wrists out of Jaebum’s hold and starts messing with the first aid. “You should’ve just walked away.”

“Walk away?” Jaebum _just_ manages to hold back a scoff. “Jacks, don’t think I didn’t see how you almost went at him before we left. _You_ weren’t about to walk away either.”

Jackson rolls his eyes again. “ _My_ reputation is already shot to hell. _You_ , on the other hand, don’t need to go around making people think you’re some kinda thug!”

“I don’t care if they think I’m _some kinda thug,_ ” Jaebum says, inspecting the redness on his knuckles. Now _that’s_ going to be a killer the next day. “And what are you saying about yourself? Everyone loves you. If anything, your reputation is shot to _heaven_.” He looks up as he says this, flashing a smile.

But Jackson still has his back on him, staring at the neatly packed first aid kit before moving to unpack everything again. Jaebum watches him wordlessly. 

Someone knocks on the bathroom door, startling Jaebum and almost knocking him off his perch on the side of the bathtub.

Jackson throws him some ointment and a roll of gauze, muttering for Jaebum to wrap up his hands before they’re too stiff to move. When he moves to answer the door, Jaebum jumps up from his seat too quickly and ignores the uncomfortable crick in his back so he can open the door himself. He can’t afford to let Jackson walk away from him while still being all huffy.

“Yes?” He shoves Jackson back behind him, earning an offended protest.

“Jinyoung brought us some pizza,” Mark says, leaning against the wall directly across. He tilts his head to peer behind Jaebum where Jackson is staring blankly back at him. They pull some complicated expressions, probably speaking in each other’s minds like the freaky best pals that they are before Mark finally walks away with a shrug. “Go to the kitchen when you’re done.”

Jaebum closes the door and turns around, handing the bandages back to Jackson.

“Do it for me,” he demands grumpily.

Jackson stares at him. “Oh sorry, I didn’t know getting punched turns you into a toddler.”

“Do it.” He ignores the quip, shoving the items into the other boy’s hands when Jackson doesn’t take them right away.

Jackson, likely realizing that Jaebum isn’t about to let up on the childish request, snatches them off his grasp and jerks his head towards the bathtub so they can finish up. The older boy obeys silently, taking a seat at the edge of the tub as the realization that they’re having their first (fake) lovers’ quarrel dawns on him. He wonders if it’s appropriate to laugh right now or if that would only push Jackson into drowning him right then and there.

“Hey.” He nudges Jackson’s chin with one thumb, before that same hand gets pushed down and slathered with some strong smelling lotion that would hopefully be worth tolerating come the next morning. “I’m sorry, okay?”

“I told you I’m not mad.” Jackson’s eyebrows are furrowed in concentration.

“Yeah?” Jaebum smiles at the sight, ducking down to try and meet the other boy’s eyes. “Still. I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for? I said it’s not— “

“Whatever upset you has something to do with me. So whether or not it’s my fault…” Jaebum gives up trying to make eye contact and leans forward, slouching until his forehead touches the top of Jackson’s bowed head. He can’t see the boy’s face from this angle, giving him the green light to say what he wants without feeling too embarrassed by his own sappiness. “I’m sorry that you’re not smiling right now.” He pauses, closing his eyes on a sigh. “This isn’t how I wanted game night to end.”

Jackson finishes wrapping his hand. “How’d you want it to end?”

“Mmm, with pizza. Free pizza.” He flexes his hand, straightening up so Jackson can move. “And with Mr. Wang laughing at my lame jokes again.”

Jackson laughs.

Oh thank _god_.

“Alright, fine. I guess we can’t deny Mr. MVP over here his free pizza.” The younger boy cleans up after their mess and leads the both of them out of the room.

“I’m not the MVP though.”

“You weren’t?” Jackson looks over, grinning back at him teasingly before exaggeratedly fawning over Jaebum. “But you were the only one I paid attention to! So I guess you’re the MVP for me.” His hands land on Jaebum’s face where they immediately start pinching his cheeks. Jaebum swats him away with a half-hearted scowl.

“Haha,” he responds sarcastically, poking Jackson’s forehead. Jaebum drags his feet across the floor and swings his arms so his clothes rustle together— he’s making as much noise as he can in hopes that Jackson doesn’t somehow hear how loud his dumbass, gullible heart is beating. “Yugyeom wouldn’t be happy if he hears that.”

Jackson chuckles and says, “Nah, he already knows I only see you.”

Jaebum discreetly runs a hand over the left side of his chest. _Shut the fuck up._

He’s subjected to another round of nagging once Jinyoung sees the damage he’s taken, but this one’s not the cute kind of sulking he’d dealt with in the bathroom with Jackson. This one is a full on _your utter stupidity made me get out of the dorm at ass o’clock in the evening so I could bring pizza to your sorry, drunk asses when I could be sleeping right now_ kind of noise that Jaebum has never, in all the years he’s known Jinyoung, figured out how to fix.

“We’re not really drunk though?” 

“Shut up and eat your pizza.”

Well, he definitely isn’t going to argue with that.

 

>><<

 

His phone pings with another facebook message and Jaebum dreads to open it— his grandmother’s returned from a six-month 'round the world cruise vacation and she’s more aggressive than ever in poking her nose into Jaebum’s nonexistent love life.

Fake-existent if he wants to be technical.

Sorta-existent if he wants to get real.

Thankfully, the messages are all in Korean so he doesn’t need to worry about hiding the embarrassing notifications from others around him. His gremlin of a best friend is far, far away from him at the moment, making it safe for him to stare at the messages for as long as he wants without worrying about unwanted busy bodies. 

A loud set of footsteps alerts him that someone is very quickly headed his way but Jaebum doesn’t turn around, letting whoever it is think that he’s still oblivious to their presence.

“JB!” That very familiar voice yells in his ear and Jaebum grins, turning slightly before Jackson can move too far.

“Hey Jacks.” He reaches over and pulls the other boy down to sit beside him on the steps, and Jackson goes down with an audible _oof_. Jaebum doesn’t take his arm off Jackson’s shoulders even after they’ve settled.

“Who are you chatting with?” Jackson leans over, glancing at the phone screen and then back up at Jaebum’s pinched expression. “You’re not looking too hot about it.”

“Ah, but I’m always hot.” Jaebum brings up his Korean keyboard and starts typing up a response, he’s barely even hit send on the message before three little dots appear on the corner of the chatbox, indicating that his grandma is already typing something back. _Honestly_ can someone just send this woman back on another vacation?

Jackson stares at the exchange, looking fascinated despite not being able to understand a thing. “Okay, whatever you say hot stuff.”

Jaebum flicks his ear, laughing at the dramatic reaction he gets.

“It’s my grandma,” he says, rolling his eyes at the continued barrage of messages. “She’s back from vacation and just saw the posts on Facebook about us. Now she won’t leave me alone.”

When Jaebum looks over at him, Jackson looks delighted, absolutely feeding off of Jaebum’s visible misery.

“What’s she saying?”

Annoyed, Jaebum looks down at the excitable reaction to his relationship status and blatantly lies. “She wants to see if you’re a suitable partner first.”

“What, really?” Jackson looks down at Jaebum’s phone as if he’ll eventually understand everything written on the screen if he stares hard enough.

“Yeah, she can’t have her grandson dating someone unworthy.”

“Wow, is your grandma rich?" 

“I guess?” His father’s side of the family has always been well-off but Jaebum’s been raised to not depend on wealth he, himself, hasn’t worked hard for so he doesn’t reflect the status they have and, rather, acts like an outright hobo most of the time.

“Damn,” Jackson whispers, rubbing a hand over his upper lip as he stares off into space. “This is… this is turning into some kinda real life Korean drama, isn’t it?”

Jaebum shoots him a strange look, not following the train of thought.

“Your grandma,” Jackson continues when Jaebum doesn’t make a sound. “She’s going to ask to meet me behind your back and offer me money so I’d stay away from you, isn’t she?" 

Jaebum sputters, looking down to where his grandma is now recommending some wedding planners and name generator websites for a first child.

Curse whoever it is who taught her how to use the internet. 

He pulls Jackson up from the staircase and drags him down to where the swim club is located. Jaebum’s charming smile and sparkling personality scored him a set of keys to the club room despite the season not yet starting and, obviously abusing this power, he’s invited the guys to meet up at the swimming area for some post-midterm relaxation time.

“She’d never do that,” Jaebum protests, closing out of the chat window with a mental note to answer her later. He ducks down to see Jackson’s expression and— “Hey, what the fuck are you looking so disappointed for?!” 

“Well, you know…”

“You would’ve taken the money?!”

“Jaebum, the economy is failing, a guy has got to eat!”

“She doesn’t even speak English, there’d be some major miscommunication between you two.”

“Money has no language!”

“Spoken like a true gold digger.”

“Truth hurts, my love.”

“I can’t believe this.”

“I’d definitely check the amount first before I take it though.”

“And how much am I worth?”

“Hm, I mean… you can’t expect me to walk away if there’s like fifty thousand in there or something.”

“Fuck, I can’t trust you now.” Jaebum unlocks the door to the pool area, peeking inside first before fist pumping at the sight of the place being deserted. All according to plan.

“Shut up, like you wouldn’t take money offered for you to fake break up with me.” 

“It wouldn’t even take that much, they can just give me a puppy and I’d gladly trade you in.”

“Hey!” Jackson whacks him with a towel. 

Jaebum backs away a little, head thrown back in laughter. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding.” He slips his shirt off and throws it on one of the chairs, starting his stretches before they jump in the water. The others aren’t coming in until later but the two of them aren’t about to wait around for those assholes.

He hears Jackson mumbling to himself but he can’t quite catch what he’s saying so Jaebum just stares at him with a goofy smile on his face. If the other boy turns around right now, Jaebum is bound to lose some major cool points. But he doesn’t care, feeling his smile widen as he watches Jackson organize their things together neatly— his vision rose coloured and certainly anime worthy with how much sakura petals he’s conjured up to imaginarily fall around Jackson.

It’s a nice and tender thing until Jackson removes his shirt too, and then Jaebum is promptly reminded that _yes_ , they _are_ going swimming together. Which means that they are both shirtless. Together. And wow, Jackson looks very—

He’s quite an attractive sight.

Jaebum has black spots dancing in his eyes with how fast he turns away, it’d be horrible for Jackson’s ego if Jaebum is caught staring. Jackson wouldn’t let him hear the end of it.

“Last one in the water is a ninny!”

He’s startled out of his stupor when Jackson dashes right past him, running towards the edge of the pool (which stresses Jaebum out because _no running on the slippery floors_ damn it) and jumping in without a care in the world. 

Jaebum’s inner athlete screams at him to finish his stretches before he remembers that this isn’t a swim meet. Nobody here is insane enough to seriously want to challenge him to a race. Maybe. Probably. 

He jumps in beside where Jackson is happily floating around and purposely creates a huge splash.

Jackson’s laughing when Jaebum resurfaces, and the latter gathers water in his arms before sending them flying towards Jackson’s direction. The other boy ducks under water before the attack reaches him. 

They make a lot of ruckus for two supposed adults just chilling in the pool. Kicking water around and punching the surface with all the purpose of two obnoxious children who don’t know when to start being serious, the pair could care less that more than half of their group still haven’t shown up after all the time that’s passed. 

But then of course the inevitable happens. Because what kind of people would they be if one of them doesn’t _at least_ suggest to do this when they’re very conveniently paddling around a large pool of water? In private. By themselves. 

Jackson challenges Jaebum to see which one of them can hold their breath longer under water. 

“Are you sure you wanna do this?” Jaebum taunts, pushing wet strands off of his forehead. “Last chance to back out.” 

Jackson raises an eyebrow. “Is this reverse psychology? Are you trying to get me to back out before you embarrass yourself, oh great Mr. Phelps the second?” 

Jaebum snorts, bending down to hide his smirk under water. Nobody’s beaten him at this game since he started high school. 

He rises then. “Alright, if you say so. On the count of three.” 

They go down at the same time and both of them keep their eyes open, blinking away the slight sting of chlorine. Jaebum’s so used to it that he doesn’t even feel bothered by it but he’s surprised that Jackson is able to keep up, even having the gall to meet Jaebum’s eyes only to waggle his eyebrows smugly. How can someone pull off being annoying under water?

Jaebum surges forward and tackles Jackson, initiating a mini wrestling match until their knees actually touch the pool floor. Jackson lets out a weird gurgling sound, seemingly forgetting that they’re still under water and that he can’t, in fact, laugh freely without swallowing a ton of chemical-treated liquid. 

Jaebum’s head pops up two seconds after Jackson and he barely manages to wipe the water off his face before Jackson is pointing an accusing finger at him, demanding a rematch. 

“Where’s your dignity!” He screeches at the ceiling, splashing a laughing Jaebum as they circle around each other. “Where’s the sacred rule of fairness in the name of the sport!” 

“Nothing is sacred in my domain!” Jaebum screams back, turning around so he can continue laughing without getting stray water in his mouth. 

“Again.” Jackson kicks at him, whining when Jaebum leans back and doesn’t start the countdown. “Jaebum!” 

“Okay, okay, fine.” His chuckles have finally died down enough for him to ensure that he isn’t going to drown the moment he goes under. “On three!” 

This time around, they start off seemingly content to stay in their spot and see the game end fairly. Until Jackson reaches out and places his hand over Jaebum’s face that is. It doesn’t really do anything as he obviously doesn’t need to breathe at the moment but it does its job in startling him. Bubbles rise to the surface in accordance to Jaebum’s sputtering and he wraps his own hand around Jackson’s wrist so he can pull it away, going for the other wrist as well just for insurance. 

Jackson shakes his head, smiling close-mouthed when he sees Jaebum’s scandalized expression. Jaebum pulls him closer, faking a glare once they’re nose to nose. The younger boy isn’t showing any signs of wanting to let up— Jaebum is honestly impressed but also a little worried for his reputation since he really hasn’t been expecting Jackson to rival a swimmer’s lung capacity. 

So Jaebum does the only logical thing to do in this situation. 

He leans forward to place a gentle kiss on Jackson’s lips, the shock from it forcing the other boy to let out a huge exhale that uses up all his reserved oxygen. Jackson starts to pull away, presumably to swim up for some much needed air.

But Jaebum has taken a liking to their position so he traps Jackson in his arms, one hand cradling the back of his head so he can press their mouths firmly together and he breathes his own air into Jackson’s lips. Jackson gasps, not expecting it but involuntarily helping the process. He melts into the embrace, closing his eyes and allowing them a few more seconds to stay comfortably under water.

Unfortunately, swimming prodigy or not, Jaebum is still human and he runs out of air eventually, forcing him to kick his legs down to bring the both of them back up to the surface. 

The strange wall of security that the water provided for them is no more and the two of them are brought back to reality. They stay in each other’s space, neither making a move to escape. Their eyes are locked together as if bewitched, refusing to look in any other direction and it’s easily the most nerve wracking and mind numbing contact that Jaebum has ever been subjected under. 

If Jaebum thought that his heart had been loud back in Mark’s house after that party, then it’s got to be booming right now. Megaphone level and all. There’s no way in hell that Jackson can’t hear the sound.

 _But nobody’s here to witness this_. He tells himself, breathing speeding up as his mind goes haywire. They have no excuse to be this close. 

Absolutely zero. None. Zilch. 

Jaebum disregards the unspoken question and leans forward, kissing Jackson with all he’s got. 

Jackson’s back hits the tiles at the edge of the pool where they’ve drifted and Jaebum presses in closer. There’s no amount of physical space left in between the two of them but he doesn’t feel like it’s enough. He wants to be _right there_ , somehow, invading every shaky intake of breath, devouring the gasps his boy lets out, taking up the entirety of Jackson’s field of vision, claiming every ounce of his sensibilities so that Jaebum is all he can see, can think of, can _feel_. 

Jaebum’s walls have crumbled enough for him to admit that he wants it all, without the destructive game of pretend colouring the intent behind all their actions. 

He pulls away from those devastating lips and leans their foreheads together. Braving the moment, Jaebum opens his eyes to confirm that Jackson is perfectly fine with all of this and what he sees makes him swallow, overwhelmed with the giddiness crawling up his chest. 

Jackson’s eyes are open, gaze burning into Jaebum as if he’s looking for an answer without expecting a single word. His lips are reddened more so than usual and Jaebum’s eyes track them as the younger boy slowly brings his lower lip behind his teeth, chewing on it almost absentmindedly. 

Jaebum gathers the hands resting against his chest and guides them up to drape over his shoulders. His own hands then slide over Jackson’s arms, pulling insistently so that they wrap completely around his neck, as if the two of them need any more reason to press closer together.

When he looks up again, there’s an upward tick at the corner of Jackson’s mouth and the voice inside Jaebum’s head, telling him how terrible of an idea this is, hushes in the face of that smile.

They both lean forward this time, meeting in the middle where Jaebum steals that bottom lip, pulling the softness between his own teeth to get another taste for himself. Jackson laughs quietly before tilting his head to the side and urging Jaebum to kiss him properly. Jaebum locks an arm around his waist, other hand reaching up to caress Jackson’s jaw, his thumb putting pressure on his chin in a silent request for access—

And then the door rattles loudly, the noise echoing against the otherwise silent walls.

On pure instinct, they both move away from each other, with Jackson turning around to lean over the edge while Jaebum propels himself backwards, stroking both arms against the water to cover a great distance in the second it takes for the door to click open. A trail of disgruntled college students walk up from behind the creaking door, arguing about something or the other and effectively killing the moment.

Bambam struts in with his arms high in the air, shimmying to the beat inside his head as he sings out loud, “The party don’t start til I— hey! Why’d you start already?” He pauses when he sees Jaebum and Jackson staring at them from the pool. 

Neither of them respond, their higher functions still working through what’s just happened. Thankfully, Bambam doesn’t seem to be seriously looking for an answer, he just starts stripping on the spot as he excitedly prattles on about swimming for the first time in a while. Yugyeom follows suit while Youngjae has the sense to grab their bags to put them far away from the splash zone before happily stripping off with the rest of them. 

Jinyoung and Mark, however, stand quietly side by side. Jaebum’s acting as nonchalantly as possible, sliding around until his feet can no longer touch the floor. Jackson’s still at the corner where they’d been, looking completely distracted. Luckily, their three younger friends are quick to join them in the water and Jaebum is grateful for the break in tension. 

It doesn’t take very long until the bunch of them are back to their usual antics. Jackson’s actually smiling and playing around by the time Jinyoung and Mark finally decide to jump in as well. Jaebum pushes his feelings aside for now, not wanting to ruin everyone else’s fun by acting weird.

Or uncharacteristically weird anyway. He tries his best to be his usual amount of weird.  

Jinyoung throws him a side glance but doesn’t grill him for answers on the spot. 

And when Youngjae enthusiastically suggests a contest on who can hold their breath the longest under water, Jackson volunteers to be the referee and Jaebum straight up opts out.

 

>><<

 

“What were you guys doing back there?” 

“Hm?” Jaebum feigns ignorance, turning his back to Jinyoung by rummaging through their snack drawers. Their stock is getting dangerously low.

“At the pool. Did we interrupt something?”

“No, why would you?” He likes to think he’s an ace liar. Too bad his best friend seems to have x-ray hearing when it comes to Jaebum and is somehow able to filter through the bullshit he says.

“Really? So we’re going down denial road now are we?” Jinyoung leans on the wall separating the kitchen from their living room while Jaebum moves on to their pasta cabinet, rifling through the half eaten packs with no particular purpose in mind. 

He sighs, crumpling up an empty pack in his fist. “What do you want me to tell you?” 

“Oh I don’t know.” Jinyoung pauses with his usual dramatic flair. “Maybe the truth for once.” 

“For once?” Okay maybe he’s lying about the pool incident but that’s _all_ he’s covering up _._ “What have I been lying about?” 

“Jackson!” 

The tone in which Jinyoung says Jackson’s name surprises Jaebum enough to make him turn around and actually face him. 

Jaebum stares at him— at the stiffness of his stance, the genuine anger in his eyes, the way he’s clenching his jaw to hold back from saying anything more. He hasn’t seen Jinyoung this upset since Jaebum had announced his half-baked plans of living in Korea permanently after graduating from high school. 

Obviously that fell through, but this one. This one is completely different.

“What the fuck is your problem with Jackson, huh?!” He throws the balled up trash in his hand onto the floor. 

Jinyoung, the one who usually can’t stand any kind of mess being made in front of him, doesn’t even bat an eye. “Hah, see? One little slight at your precious _Jackson_ already has you throwing a fucking tantrum!” 

“You started it! And he hasn’t done anything, what the hell is wrong with you?!” 

“So fucking what? I’m your best friend and you don’t listen to a thing I say when it comes to him! This is Minah all over again.” 

Jaebum’s hackles rise at the comparison. “What the _fuck_ are you saying?” 

“You like him for real don’t you?” 

Jaebum stands there and doesn’t deny it. The two of them pull a mini stare off until Jinyoung starts chuckling, the sound flat and devoid of humour. “I fucking knew it. All this fake relationship bullshit is just that. _Bullshit,_ ” the latter says, making Jaebum step forward. 

Flashbacks to their interrupted conversation about Jackson plays in his mind, the one before the soccer game, where Jinyoung had been a lot less hostile but still very skeptical about the progress in Jaebum and Jackson’s relationship. 

He uses the small difference in their height to look down at Jinyoung, chin tilted up and jaws locked tight with visible tension. Recalling their previous conversation only irritates Jaebum more. “What’s it to you? Why do you keep acting up about it?” 

“It was funny at first.” Jinyoung doesn’t back down, unaffected with the look that will often times send others running. “Now it’s just fucking stupid.” 

Jaebum clenches his fist, more as a reflex than the desire to hit Jinyoung. No matter how many times people say that men only need to punch it out in order to fix whatever problem there is between them, they both think that the logic behind it is complete and utter garbage. He and Jinyoung would never intentionally hurt each other. 

“You’re getting on my _last_ nerve here. Just spill it. What’s your problem with him?” 

“Why are you like this?” Jinyoung uncrosses his arms, standing straight as he spreads his arms wide in a helpless gesture. “You don’t even know him!” 

Jaebum’s getting real tired of this. “I know enough.” 

“No you fucking don’t.” 

“Oh so you know him so well then, I guess?” 

“Probably better than you at the moment.” 

“Guess what? I don’t fucking care!” His voice rises again, never been one to hold back his anger for very long. “It’s not like I’m marrying him next week! I don’t need to know every fucking thing right now so whatever it is you think you know about him that I don’t, I really, from the bottom of my fucking heart, don’t give a _shit_.” 

Jinyoung’s expression scrunches up and his arms fall back to his side. “What’s so good about him?” It comes as a whisper, the drop in volume helping calm Jaebum a little. 

“I don’t fucking know. Nothing? Everything. I just like him. Why do you care?!” 

“Mark’s fucking in love with him!” Jinyoung yells out, smacking his forehead right after.

 _Oh_.

The silence between them is thick with the absence of the one question that Jaebum is fully aware would agitate Jinyoung even more.

But the confrontational mood still hasn’t dissipated and he honestly feels like being a total dickhead so he asks anyway, “So you’re jealous?” Asshole mode activated, Jaebum throws all caution to the wind and keeps going. “This what it is then? You’re jealous?" 

Jinyoung doesn’t remove his hand from where it’s now covering his eyes. “Fuck!” He walks off, stomping in the direction of the living room. 

Jaebum fiddles with the loose paint on the wall for a good couple of seconds, belatedly stumped by the outburst. An uneasy feeling coils in his chest now that he’s properly registered Jinyoung’s words because _shit_. 

Mark, the best friend of who knows how many years; handsome, rich, smart, _perfect_ Mark Tuan has feelings for Jaebum’s— well, Jaebum’s… person he also has feelings for. 

There’s a very real possibility of this ending badly for both Jinyoung and himself. 

He wipes a hand over his face and walks over to the fridge to grab the last two cans of beer they have. Determining that there’s nothing edible in their fridge to have with their drinks, he follows Jinyoung out the kitchen and slumps down on the couch beside him. 

“Sorry,” Jinyoung says, accepting the drink when Jaebum hands one over. “I didn’t mean to take it out on you and Jackson.” 

Jaebum nods, almost chugging his drink in half. He feels a little guilty. So focused has he been on the progress of his own campus life that he’s neglected to meddle with Jinyoung’s— which, if you put it that way doesn’t sound like a negative thing. But that’s what they do. What they’ve always done. They meddle with each other’s lives. 

And Jaebum has forgotten all about his meddling duties despite the knowledge that Jinyoung, the one who rarely takes interest in other human beings, has been nursing a serious crush on one of their mutual friends. 

“Uh.” His voice cracks at the end there and he quickly clears his throat. “Mark told you this?” He squeaks out, managing to sound a little less panicky than he feels. 

“Yep,” Jinyoung responds moodily, staring off into space. “Says he can’t have serious relationships cause it would feel like he’s betraying them.” 

“Ah.” Jaebum taps a finger against the side of his drink. How exactly does one meddle when the subject of conversation directly involves the person he likes? 

Jinyoung looks over at him and snorts. “Don’t worry, nothing will come from it so stop looking so constipated.” Jinyoung’s smiling, strangely calm in contrast to his earlier dramatics. Maybe the guy just needed a good yelling session. “I don’t think he’s going to act on it.”

“Shut up,” Jaebum murmurs, inwardly sighing in relief. Mark’s got _years_ on him, not to mention a bombastic car collection. Jaebum’s not sure how to compete with that. “How did you guys start talking about this anyway?”

“I asked him out a while ago.”

Jaebum chokes on his next sip.

“What the fuck? Why are you acting like I’m incapable of doing that?” Jinyoung looks at him sourly, not even reaching over to pat Jaebum’s back to make sure his airways are cleared enough for him to breathe. Rude. 

“ _You_ asked him out?” 

“Yeah?” 

“That’s gutsy of you.” 

“I’ve always been gutsy, nobody’s just been good enough.” Jinyoung shrugs, probably referring to the fact that he’d stayed single all through out their high school and most of their middle school years. 

“Alright cool guy, what are you gonna do now?” Jaebum asks, frowning when he reaches the end of his drink. 

Jinyoung shrugs. “Make him forget Jackson. It’s too much effort for me to find someone else to like.” 

Jaebum looks at him, a little surprised at how bold his friend actually is. Honestly, it’s always been Jaebum who gets stuck with problems surrounding his love life so he’s never had a good grasp on how Jinyoung acts in these situations. 

“Right.” Jaebum places his empty can on the floor. “So stop going off about Jackson now if Mark’s not even going to do anything.”

“I already said sorry.” 

“Don’t do it again.” 

“I was just so frustrated about everything and I keep hearing his name _everywhere_ and then _you_ start acting like the sun shines out his ass all the time and I just— “ Jinyoung cuts himself off, finishing his own drink. “Whatever, I’m petty as fuck. Sorry.” 

“Sorry, too.” Jaebum loops an arm around the back of the couch. “I’ve been so occupied with… “ He almost says Jackson’s name before he remembers that Jinyoung literally just said that he hears that name too much. His eyes widen slightly as he looks up and Jinyoung cracks up at the pitiful look thrown at him. 

“Fucking hate that lucky bastard,” Jinyoung mumbles with no heat in his tone. “Jackson has the two of you wrapped around his fingers and probably has no goddamn idea.” 

Jaebum rubs the back of his head, in no position to counter that statement. He stares at their empty cans of beer before getting up to throw them out. He grabs the crumpled plastic he’d thrown earlier off the kitchen floor and gets rid of that too, but the sight of their fridge only reminds him of how depressingly empty it is inside. 

Poking his head out the kitchen, he vaults their usual takeout menu over to Jinyoung who manages to catch it expertly. “So beer and take out?” His shoes are already on before the other boy even utters a response, wondering if he’s got enough cash in his wallet to avoid using his credit card at the convenience store. 

Jinyoung nods, phone on his ear as he scans the menu. “Beer and take out.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Turns out there are 13 chapters to this aND I AM RUNNING OUT OF CHAPTER TITLES
> 
> Who told me it was a good idea to use song lyrics as titles smh 
> 
> Btw, if you guys would like to reach me somewhere (like to kick my ass about my nonexistent update schedule hAHA) I made a [writing sideblog!](https://modusoqerandi.tumblr.com) I'm online a lot cause I'm a slacker at work so if you guys have any questions or prompts or even just to say hi, I'd love to hear from you <3 
> 
> See you next chapter!


End file.
